Exposed!
by Trumpet-Geek
Summary: /GrimmIchi/ Ichigo thought he had his hands full dealing with Aizen, what is he going to do when Tatsuki, Keigo and Mizuiro are thrown into the chaos? You can find the original smutty version on my writing tumblr.
1. Prologue

**Exposed**

By TG

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_Disclaimer:_ I don't own Bleach or anything. It belongs to the amazing and imaginative Kubo Tite. I do own the story.

_Author's Note:_ So my friend has talked me into doing our very own NaNoWriMo in the month of March, only it's going to be 30,000 words instead of 50,000. I have wanted to write a chapter fic for Bleach for a while, but considering how my last chapter fic came along, It'd be six years before I got this one completed. So I figured this was a great time to get a complete one done before posting! So here you go!

_Warning:_ This is slightly AU by the way. I've always wanted to read a good fic where Ichigo's friends find out about him being a Shinigami by following him and seeing him fight or something, but I have yet to find one that's to my tastes… So I'm going to write one. I'm all caught up in the anime, however not in the manga and so that's why this is probably going to be slightly AU. Plus I'm ignoring some stuff that's happened. So please no reviews whining about how this stuff wouldn't/hasn't happened. This a fanfiction, people. I'm using my imagination to make it how I want it.

Anyway, sorry for rambling. Please enjoy!

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Exposed

Prologue

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Ichigo resisted the urge to groan.

The orange-haired dork was currently sitting in his last class of the day, his chin in his hand, propped up by his elbow that was resting on his desk, his eyes continuously darting toward the clock that seemed to be stuck.

This class bored him most of all because it was Shakespeare; Ichigo already knew all of his plays by heart. He did not usually bother with paying attention to his sensei, especially today as it was a Friday. He was too busy dreading the movie night his friends had planned and were forcing him to attend.

The Substitute Shinigami broke his own thoughts and took a moment to switch his gaze from the clock to the window so his sensei wouldn't get suspicious and scold him in front of the whole class _again._ Now _that_ was an embarrassing experience. He was thankful that none of his Shinigami friends were in this class to make fun of him, especially Renji… or Rukia.

Just then the bell rang, startling Ichigo from his thoughts. He wasn't sure whether he wanted to smile or scowl further at the thought of the approaching weekend; on one hand, he was now free from attending school for the next two days… But on the other hand, he was meeting up with his friends at Tatsuki's house later that night for the movie marathon that he didn't really want to attend.

'Well,' he thought as he gathered his things together to leave the classroom in search of Rukia, 'I can at least get the movie night over with tonight and have the rest of the weekend to myself. And at least Rukia will be there tonight,' he added as an afterthought.

Someone's hip bumped into his and he felt fingers twine with his. He didn't really need to look down to know that Rukia had found him instead of vice versa. Even though they were still just friends, their relationship had become more physical in the two years that they had been partners (AN: Ichigo is now 18). Ichigo had never been a touchy-feely kind of guy, but he felt a connection with Rukia, as cliché as that sounds, and he didn't mind holding her hand occasionally or just plain being near her as much as he used to mind touching other people.

"Ichigo," Rukia said quietly, looking up at him. "How was your day?"

Ichigo squeezed her fingers briefly and grunted.

Rukia's laughter almost made him want to smile. "That bad, huh?"

Ichigo sighed and ran his free hand through his orange hair; it was a habit Rukia recognized and it usually signaled that Ichigo was uncomfortable or nervous about something.

"I'm guessing it has to do with going out with your friends tonight, right? Well too bad, mister! If I have to go, you have to go!" Rukia said, poking him hard in the stomach.

He let go of her hand in order to rub at what would surely be a bruise and turned to send his harshest glare her way; of course it didn't work. She was practically immune to his death glares by now. They walked down the hallway, ignoring other students and glaring at each other until they met up with the rest of their friends –Tatsuki, Chad, Ishida, Inoue, Keigo and Mizuiro; the Shinigami group had gone back to Soul Society for the weekend to report back.

The group chatted happily, all except Ichigo, who kept silent as usual. Out of the corner of his eye he watched Rukia work her magic as she smiled her disgustingly sweet smile at Keigo, who was nearly crying out of happiness. Not for the first time, Ichigo thought about how lucky he was to be the one to see the real Rukia on a regular basis, even if it meant that he had to nurse more than a few wounds. He hated this fake Rukia. Slowly the group split up and went their own ways, promising to meet up at Tatsuki's house at 8 for the movie marathon.

Rukia looked over at Ichigo, who seemed bothered by something. Was he really that bothered by having to spend time with his friends? No, he had to have something else on his mind that was bothering him. She reached out and took his large, warm, rough hand in hers and smiled gently at him when he glanced at her. The gesture screamed 'If you need someone to talk to, I'm here,' and she knew that Ichigo understood her. They had been partners for the past two years; if they didn't understand each other, then they had a problem, especially when fighting a dangerous Hollow. He sighed, let go of her hand, and before she could miss his warmth he had his arm wrapped around her shoulders in thanks. She smiled to herself and they continued to walk to the Kurosaki Clinic in a comfortable silence.

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Four hours later found Ichigo sitting grumpily on Tatsuki's couch, surrounded by friends who were eating pizza and chatting and generally enjoying themselves before the movie started. He sat near the armrest of the huge, squashy leather couch with Rukia beside him and Keigo next to her. Ishida and Inoue were sitting on a love seat and Chad, Mizuiro and Tatsuki were sitting on the floor in front of the television, their eyes glued to the mystery they were currently watching.

One glance out of the corner of her eye told Rukia that Ichigo was paying absolutely no attention to this movie. She frowned and poked him the leg. Hard. His head swiveled toward her and he glared at her, but she could tell he wasn't angry with her. She frowned at him, mentally telling him to watch the movie, damnit! He sighed and just as he was about to open his mouth for some kind of retort he probably would have been hit for, Rukia's cell phone went off. Ichigo could see Ishida, Inoue, and Chad trying not to look at each other. Rukia caught his hand and dragged him from the room, saying something about needing some fresh air and wanting Ichigo to accompany her in case some men ambushed her in an alley. Ichigo resisted the urge to roll his eyes as Tatsuki, Keigo and Mizuiro bought her lame story.

Beside him Rukia whipped out her phone to get the coordinates of the Hollow while smacking Ichigo in the head to get his spirit out of his body. They stuffed the lifeless body into some bushes and took off toward Karakura Park.

Five minutes earlier, Tatsuki, Mizuiro and Keigo, against the wishes of the other three, snuck out of the house behind the two Shinigami, thinking that something romantic was about to happen. They followed the pair, who were looking intently at Rukia's cell phone for some reason. Behind them, Inoue, Ishida and Chad caught up to them, panting and trying to get them to go back to the house.

Suddenly Rukia smacked Ichigo hard upside the head, which in itself was not that unusual. The group gasped silently, however, as they watched Ichigo's lifeless body fall to the ground. The three friends who didn't know about Soul Society looked at each other, their mouths gaping open. If that was him, then why was another Ichigo standing on the sidewalk in a black Shinigami outfit, and why did he have a huge-ass sword? Why did Rukia suddenly have Shinigami robes on as well? And what was this huge pressure?

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_Author's Note:_ Okay, I am developing symptoms of carpal tunnel syndrome, so I hope you all like this story lol. Damn, nothing like trying to type when you can't feel your fingers!

Also, I wanted to say that no, this story will not really be focused on Tatsuki, Keigo, or Mizuiro. It seems like it for the first couple of chapters but there will be three or four focuses; those three, Ichigo and Shinigami friends, Ichigo and Grimmjow, and Aizen's company.

I'll be updating twice a week starting next week. I'm thinking Wednesdays and Saturdays, but not necessarily. Sorry for the huge amount of space my author's notes are taking up, but I'll remind you this IS a prologue and therefore is meant to be short :)

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TG © March 2008


	2. Chapter 1

**Exposed**

By TG

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_Disclaimer:_ This is my last disclaimer for this story. This goes for ALL chapters following this one: I do not own Bleach, but I do own this story.

_Author's Note:_ Well… Here's the next chapter! Please read the author's note at the bottom when you're done :)

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Exposed

Chapter I

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Tatsuki was confused.

Well, confused was probably an understatement. She really had no idea what had gone on last night. She knew that she had hosted a movie party at her house and that Ichigo, Mizuiro, Rukia, Keigo, Inoue, Chad and Ishida had been present, but she could not for the life of her remember anything about what they had watched or done or even ate. All she really remembered was a bright flash and a poofing noise, and then Rukia asking her if she was okay because she had apparently fainted in the middle of a movie. This gave her an odd feeling, like something was missing.

Last night, Keigo, Mizuiro and Tatsuki had seen the surprise of a lifetime –Ichigo and Rukia had transformed into something _different._ Sure, they had maintained their appearances; Ichigo still had is insanely wild and orange hair and Rukia still had her short stature, but they had seemed almost intangible, like if Tatsuki had tried to reach out and touch them, her hand would have only met air. Not to mention that they had seen the two black-clad beings stuff Ichigo's lifeless body into some bushes before running off.

In their shock, the three confused friends had allowed Chad, Inoue and Ishida to lead them back to Tatsuki's house in silence. Although it seemed like the latter three had an idea of what was going on with their friends, they did not bother to explain anything. In fact, they had all sat down in silence and waited until Rukia and Ichigo got back, looking normal as ever. Rukia had taken one look at Inoue and whipped out this thing that looked like a lighter –the memory modifier. She modified everyone's memories and told them that they had fainted due to eating some bad pizza.

For a while Tatsuki actually believed that she may have passed out since she remembered watching a movie one minute and being shaken awake by Rukia the next. However something just outside her grasp was trying to tell her that that hasn't been it. All day today, which was a Saturday, she had been trying to metaphorically reach out and touch the thing that her brain was trying so hard to remember. Bits and pieces of _something_ was coming back to her –Rukia and Ichigo going on a walk in the middle of a movie, seeing them running and looking at that strange cell phone of Rukia's.

She knew that something was going on, and she was going to find out what it was.

'Wait… If I passed out because I ate bad pizza, how come it was just me, Keigo and Mizuiro? Everyone else had pizza too…'

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Ugh. Monday.

Monday meant school, which meant doing work. However, Tatsuki was determined to figure out what the heck was going on.

She knew something was up the moment she walked into the classroom and saw her best friend, Orihime.

"Tatsuki! Good morning!" Orihime chirped happily. "I had a great time at your house on Friday, I hope we can do it again soon. Maybe next time at my house! But we have to be careful because the old lady that lives a floor below me is scary. I think she is a robot alien, sent by other robot aliens to scout…"

Tatsuki, as much as she loved her brown-haired and big-chested friend, she decided it would be best to tune her out. Orihime acted like this almost everyday, but something in her voice was forced this morning.

Ichigo and Rukia entered the classroom next, both engrossed in a petty argument, as usual. Tatsuki watched in amusement as the short raven haired girl violently slapped her childhood friend upside the head, making him stumble off to the side and sputter in indignation. They seemed normal enough.

A few others trickled in and finally the two other people she really wanted to see –Mizuiro and Keigo. They walked in, Keigo looking slightly confused and Mizuiro looking normal. Tatsuki wandered over toward them to confirm their usual lunch meeting on the rooftop. She could see in Mizuiro's eyes that he understood that something was wrong and that they should not talk about it in the classroom with others to hear them.

On the other side of the classroom, four people stood in silence around a raven haired girl's desk, looking worried.

"Do you think they know?" Ishida whispered, pushing his glasses further up the bridge of his nose.

"I don't know, but I guess we'll find out eventually if they try to confront one of us about it. Since all three of them saw me and Ichigo, they can't just write it off as their imaginations or a daydream. So either they're going to pretend like nothing happened or they're going to confront us," Rukia murmured.

Ichigo snorted next to her. "I think they already suspected before, doofus. If I know Tatsuki, they're not going to leave this alone. Remember when I was fifteen and Tatsuki confronted me because she thought something was going on? I think she at least has known something weird is going on with me since before that time. They won't drop it."

"I hope you're wrong, Kurosaki-kun, for their sakes. We don't want them mixed up in this," Inoue said sadly.

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_Author's Note:_ I guess I'm not really all that impressed with the length of the chapter this time around, but it will just have to do :)

Also, I've noticed some people have been story alerting Exposed! but not reviewing. Is the review button broken? XD

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TG © March 2008


	3. Chapter 2

**Exposed**

By TG

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Author's Note: Heh, at this point I'd like to thank some of my friends who have reviewed so far; kellymarianandanne and naoto-san especially for helping me out with some ideas :)

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Exposed

Chapter II

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Have you ever noticed how the school day just drags on when you really need time to go by faster? Kurosaki Ichigo was experiencing this. He wanted to get away from Tatsuki and Keigo and Mizuiro so they wouldn't be able to corner him at school, but it wasn't like he could skip class without someone finding out and getting him in trouble.

The orange-haired teen groaned silently, feeling déjà-vu creeping up on him as he stared at the clock, silently wishing to skip ahead in time. He and the other Shinigami, plus Ishida, Inoue and Chad knew that their three powerless friends had an inkling that something was going on and no one particularly wanted to deal with it. None of them wanted their friends involved in the mess that was the Winter War.

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While Ichigo was thinking about his three problematic and curious friends, said friends were sitting on the roof, currently skipping gym class to talk. The three were sitting in a triangle, each facing each other and looking rather serious. None of them really knew where to begin, but earlier that day they had each admitted that they felt a strange sort of confusion about what had happened Friday at Tatsuki's and that they kept getting weird flashes of some sort of dream or memory they didn't know they had.

"I think we should follow Ichigo," Keigo said straight up. He was never one to beat around the bush during a serious matter anyway, contrary to his normal self.

"Keigo I don't think that's such a good idea. I don't really know why I feel like that, but maybe we should try and think of another way to obtain information," Mizuiro supplied slowly, almost cautiously. Across from him, Tatsuki nodded in agreement.

"I think we should see if we can get some information first. If we can't, then we'll follow him tonight. We'll meet after school to see if we have any information between us and if we don't we can quickly leave to follow Ichigo, " Tatsuki compromised, and both boys sat back and thought.

"Yeah, okay," they agreed.

The meeting adjourned, the three stood up from their spots and stretched, just in time for the next class. Their gazes met and they each nodded at each other before slipping through the door that lead to the roof and into their classrooms. The three would go their separate ways and subtly interrogate their friends individually to see if they could get any information out of them. Tatsuki really didn't know, but she had an inkling that it wasn't just Rukia and Ichigo. Perhaps others were in on the conspiracy too, like Ishida and Chad and maybe even Orihime. It would make sense since they seemed to be spending all their time together, especially that year when they were gone the whole summer together.

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A couple hours later the last bell rang, signaling freedom. Mizuiro and Keigo stood just outside the large double doors of Karakura High, waiting for the third member of their little conspiracy group. Neither of them had gotten anything out of their friends and were slightly disappointed, hoping that their spiky-haired companion had something they could run with.

Their hopes were short-lived, however, as they watched Tatsuki slump down the steps of the high school with a dejected look on her face. Before either boy could ask her the question, she shook her head and scanned the crowd of students for messy orange hair. The other two began to search with her and at last they found him, standing tall and straight with Rukia at his side. Behind them were Chad, Inoue and Ishida, chatting happily as they headed off in the direction of Ichigo's house.

Tatsuki and Mizuiro glanced at each other and began to follow through the maze of students who were waiting for rides or just chatting with friends before heading home. Keigo scampered after them, glad the milling students could give them cover as they followed Ichigo and company. The brown-haired boy sighed softly as he followed Tatsuki and Mizuiro and wondered what he was getting himself into.

After all, curiosity killed the cat.

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Ichigo noticed right away that the group was being followed by three nosy friends, but he didn't bother to say anything. He didn't have to; he knew that most everyone else knew they were being followed too. He tugged Rukia closer to him by wrapping an arm around her shoulders, seeing her grin from the corner of his eye. He orange-haired teen didn't mind being touchy-feely with Rukia, and for awhile, he had thought about entering into a relationship with her. He had felt comfortable around her, enough so that he could let his guard down and actually be himself around her. However, the more he thought about this, the more he began to realize that the relationship he already had with her was good enough. He didn't need anything more, and he thought that she was content with the way things were, too. And then he had met Grimmjow.

He cut off his train of thought with a growl and contented himself to listening happily as the others around him chatted and forgot about the three nosy 'detectives' who were following them. He was instead looking forward to the meeting he was going to have with Renji and the others. It had been far too long since they had met with the other group of Shinigami and he knew Rukia especially would be glad to see her friends again. He caught Ishida's eye and smirked at the Quincy as his gaze slowly and purposefully lowered to where the raven-haired boy's hand was twined with Inoue's. Ishida blushed slightly but recovered quickly, arching a delicate eyebrow at Ichigo's own situation with Rukia. Ichigo shook his head almost imperceptivity and ignored Ishida's confused expression.

He let out a sigh as they approached his home. His friends had long since learned to let Ichigo go in first to make sure the coast was clear and Isshin-free. Which, surprisingly, it was. Ichigo immediately became suspicious and walked a little further into the house before flashing the 'ok' sign at his friends and leading them upstairs. The meeting was scheduled to begin in a few minutes, so he decided to open the window _and_ the door to prevent his Shinigami friends from destroying his ceiling, like they had last time.

As he sat on his bed, waiting, his thoughts drifted away to another world, a world where Grimmjow Jaegerjaques was. The Sexta Espada. His enemy. How he wanted to meet the Espada just once more…how he wanted to sink Zangetsu into his flesh and pay him back for all the pain the Espada had caused him…

A poke to his leg rose him from his thoughts and he blinked when he realized that _all_ his friends were there, staring at him. Renji, Matsumoto, Hitsugaya, Ikkaku, Yumichika… Even Zaraki, Hisagi and Isane were there! Ichigo suddenly flushed with embarrassment at the thought of being caught day dreaming by everyone and cleared his throat, averting his eyes away from any one gaze. To keep up pretenses, he shifted his brown eyes to glare at Rukia and rubbed his leg as if to say 'that hurt, you freaking midget.' He'd be damned if anyone found out he'd been thinking about Grimmjow, even if it was just about payback and nothing else. He would never allow himself to think of anything but payback when Grimmjow was the subject, even if, and _when,_ he wanted to.

"So, any news on Aizen's plans yet?" Ichigo asked, trying to distract the others. "It's been two years, and all we've done has been little squabbles and random fighting, nothing serious. I'm beginning to wonder if he's even going to attack at all."

"You're right, he could be waiting for us to attack. If that's the case, then we must be careful. However, we cannot keep this up," Hitsugaya answered.

"Right, the longer that bastard has the Hyogyouku and the longer we do nothing about it, the more he is going to think we'll let him get away with it," Ikkaku muttered.

"No, I doubt he'll ever think for one second that we'll let him just get away with this. However, the longer he has it, the more time he has to develop it. He's in no rush to develop the Hyogyouku's powers because he knows he has all the time in the world," Hitsugaya replied, sounding bored of the conversation already.

Ichigo leaned forward, his elbow resting on his knee. "So what are we going to do about it? Surely if Kenpachi is here, that means we're doing _something_ about it, at least."

This evoked a laugh from the small gathering of Shinigami and Zaraki said, "Damn straight, kid."

"We're planning a large scale attack. A big group of Shinigami will go in and basically raise as much hell as possible in order to distract their attentions from the smaller group who will enter after. The way will be cleared for them by the bigger group, and the smaller group will infiltrate Las Noches and attempt to retrieve the Hyogyouku from behind enemy lines. Meanwhile, the larger group will catch up and join in the fight, because surely Aizen will have some sort of guard waiting for something like this," Renji explained.

Ichigo seemed to think this over for a few minutes before nodding carefully. He opened his mouth to say something but Renji held up his hand and grinned in gesture to stop.

"You will, of course, be a part of the smaller group who infiltrates Las Noches." Seeing Ichigo's confused look, as he was expecting to be put in the frontlines, Renji continued, "We would usually just send in the sneaky for this mission, but we have a feeling we'll need someone with some muscle. After all, the first group will probably not get everyone. One or two of the smarter Espada will be waiting for someone else to come along, like that Ulquiorra freak. The smaller group will have you to wipe out the ones that are still in your way. Got it?"

Ichigo grinned and nodded, silently hoping that Grimmjow would be one of the Espada he would meet in Las Noches. He had to pay the asshole back for nearly killing him among other things, after all. Not to mention Ulquiorra.

Renji nodded to himself and folded his arms across his chest. "Good. We'll let you know more information as the time comes closer. Don't get antsy, though, Ichigo, because I have been told it will be soon." The two shared a feral grin before another voice picked up where Renji left off.

"Speaking of information, we weren't just sent here to inform you about Aizen's plans. We heard that there was a disturbance on Friday that involved your three powerless human friends."

Ichigo gulped.

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"…three powerless human friends."

Upon hearing those words, Tatsuki, Keigo, and Mizuiro's ears perked up. They had been sitting in Ichigo's tree just outside his open bedroom window for about an hour now, and were generally confused. Who was Aizen, and for that matter, who was Ulquiorra? What the heck are Espada and where was this Las Noches thing? One thing they did understand was that the small group inside Ichigo's room was now talking about them, so they strained their ears as they listened to the conversation.

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"Well… You see, we were at my friend Tatsuki's house watching a movie…" Ichigo trailed off, seeing the blank looks on their faces. "Never mind. We were watching the box with the moving pictures in it and Rukia's phone went off, so we excused ourselves and went after the Hollow. We didn't find out until we got back that we had been followed and that Tatsuki, Keigo and Mizuiro had seen us getting out of our gigais."

"I had to give them substitute memories. We told them that they had passed out after eating bad pizza, but they figured out the hole in that; we all ate the pizza too and didn't get sick," Rukia finished for Ichigo, who nodded in agreement.

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Tatsuki growled at hearing what was as good of a confession as she could have hoped for. She leapt semi-gracefully from the tree and landed heavily on his windowsill. All eyes in the room turned to see the spiky-haired girl struggling to hang onto Ichigo's windowsill. Ichigo leapt up immediately to help out his childhood friend through the window.

"Tatsuki! What the hell are you doing here?" Ichigo growled, voice low. Behind her, Mizuiro and Keigo peeked their heads out of the leaves of the tree and the orange-haired teen hissed angrily. Tatsuki's eyes widened slightly at Ichigo's anger but narrowed soon enough as she remembered why she was here.

'_That damned bastard!'_

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Author's Note: Perhaps I should explain some stuff before we continue. The Winter War has been going on for two years.. It's kind of like the Cold War. Pretty much at a standstill, but both sides extremely tense and ready to retaliate if attacked. Orihime was taken and brought back already. You might ask the reason for this. It's because Aizen was able to use Szayel to copy her God-like powers and allowed the Shinigami to take her back to Soul Society without them realizing it (this won't really be important to the plot). Grimm and Ichigo met there and battled a bit.. Grimm beat him of course, and so that fuels Ichigo's desire to fight with Grimm. I know it's full of holes, but hopefully those will be filled with later chapters. If you have any questions, don't hesitate to ask. Sometimes AU fics can be confusing.

Also, newest episode tomorrow!! Anyone else excited to see this battle?

Also (times two), review. Please?

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TG © March 2008


	4. Chapter 3

**Exposed**

By TG

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Author's Note: Well… Sorry to disappoint you all, but Grimm isn't in this chapter. But hey, if it makes you feel better, this is only chapter 3 (four if you include the prologue) out of 17 chapters. Grimmy will show up in the next chapter and be in almost all the rest of them, so I hope I don't hear too much more complaining;) Not that I blame you… I can't wait for Grimmy to show up either!

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Exposed

Chapter III

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'_That damned bastard!'_ Tatsuki thought as she wheeled around and punched Ichigo in the face as hard as she could. The boy cried out in shock (he would never say it was in pain) and his head snapped around from the force of the punch. The rest of the group stared as the human girl punched the savior of Soul Society twice more, causing him to stagger and fall to one knee on the ground. Blood trickled down his chin and he remained silent and on the ground, staring up at Tatsuki. After a short minute he slowly stood back up, having deemed that she would not hit him again. Their eyes locked for a short moment but Ichigo looked away as Mizuiro and Keigo came in behind her.

"I want to know what's going on," Tatsuki stated very calmly. Ichigo wiped the blood away from the corner of his mouth and, not really looking at any of the other Shinigami, nodded in agreement.

"Okay, Tatsuki," Ichigo said softly, not making eye contact with anyone.

Across from him Renji made a noise of protest, but Ichigo silenced him as he caught his eye.

"They deserve to know, Renji."

Renji nodded and sighed. "I guess we can introduce ourselves. I have no clue where to start," he trailed, a hand raised to scratch an imaginary itch on his neck. "Um, I'm Abarai Renji, and these are Matsumoto Rangiku, Zaraki Kenpachi, Kotetsu Isane, Hitsugaya Toshirou, Hisagi Shuuhei, Madarame Ikkaku and Yumichika. We, along with Rukia, are what you would call Shinigami. We're spirits who have become powerful. We protect a place that you humans call Heaven, however we call it Soul Society. The protectors of Soul Society are part of what we call the Gotei 13. There are 13 squads and each have fuku-taichous and taichous. Hitsugaya and Zaraki are both taichous of the 10th and 11th divisions. Matsumoto is Hitsugaya's fuku-taichou. I am Rukia's brother's fuku-taichou, of the 6th division. Isane is the fuku-taichou of the medical division, the 4th. Ikkaku and Yumichika both belong to the 11th division. Hisagi Shuuhei is the fuku-taichou of the 9th division. I think that's everyone here, right?" Renji asked. The three intruders just blinked at him. "You didn't take in a word I just said, did you?"

"Yeah, we did… But it's a lot of stuff to take in. And it doesn't explain what Ichigo has to do with all of this," Mizuiro said calmly.

Ichigo nodded and muttered, "I think we should take them to the Shoten."

Rukia glanced up at him pityingly and pulled him over to her. "Let me at least heal you so that you don't have a pounding headache."

Ichigo smiled pathetically at her and she could tell he was very nervous about what his friends would think of him after the truth was out. She just smiled back reassuringly and healed him.

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About a half an hour later the mixture of Shinigami and humans found themselves in the huge basement of the Urahara Shoten, watching as Ichigo's human friends were about to be jabbed with a needle and tested to see if they are developing or already have spirit pressure; obviously if they can see Ichigo and Rukia as Shinigami then they have some sort of pressure. Urahara wanted to make sure that the pressure they had would not develop into powers, like Inoue and Chad did in the beginning. Mizuiro and Keigo had already been tested and injected with an Urahara creation that was supposed to ensure that his spirit pressure would not turn into something more, and Tatsuki was the last to go. She gave a scathing look at Ichigo, as if it were his fault before she stepped up to Tessai, who was administering the shots. Ichigo rubbed at his chin and supposed that it was partially his fault.

Tatsuki grumbled and yelped as the needle was stuck in her arm and the liquid injected into her vein, but then again, as Ichigo looked at the size of the needle in her arm, it had probably hurt. It was a good thing Tessai was doing the shot work rather than Urahara. That blonde freak did not have a gentle bone in his body.

Ichigo's thoughts slowly wandered to Grimmjow. His enemy. He found himself thinking about the blue-haired bastard a lot recently and this worried him a little. The orange-haired teenager sighed and ran his fingers through his already messy locks.

'Best not to think of Grimmjow now,' he thought, and focused his attention on the others just in time to realize they were already sitting at a low table, set with several cups of tea. He felt a pinch in his side and squirmed away from it. He looked down and saw Rukia looking up at him. He smiled down at her awkwardly, guilty for thinking of Grimmjow at a time like this, and followed her to the table.

Ichigo growled a bit when he realized that Urahara was telling them all the story of how the blonde man had severed his chain of fate, pushed him into a hole for three days, and nearly turned him into a Hollow. Then the fucking bastard proceeded to tell the story about his trip to Soul Society to save Rukia. Ichigo's three non-Shinigami friends had turned to stare at him some time ago, their mouths hanging open slightly and their eyes glazed over, as if they could not believe what they heard. In fact, the strawberry could just hear Tatsuki's gears grinding as she thought 'How could this little pipsqueak, who couldn't even take a punch in karate, take out all these supposedly strong guys? I mean, he's so skinny; no muscle on him at all…'

Okay, so he was beginning to piss himself off. But it didn't help that, at that moment, Keigo opened his mouth and asked, "How could Ichigo do all that? I mean, it's _Ichigo_!"

Ichigo growled but froze when he heard Zaraki's voice rise above the others' laughter, "Hey kid, let's give 'em a show, eh?!"

Ichigo let out a very unmanly squeak and Rukia patted his leg in sympathy. Zaraki moved to stand up and the orange-haired teen shot off like a bullet. He did _not_ want to fight that crazy-haired freak ever again! He could hear the others laugh at him as Zaraki chased him, but he chose to ignore it. _They_ had never had to fight the blood-crazed bastard, so they could laugh all they wanted! In the background, Ikkaku and Yumichika were throwing him taunts.

"C'mon, your orange-haired bastard! What, are you afraid of someone you've already beaten?" Ikkaku screamed, much to the amusement of Renji and Matsumoto.

"Running is _so_ not beautiful," Yumichika lilted, fanning himself as though he was too good for his surroundings.

Ichigo spun around to give them his patented glare of death but this proved to be a mistake as Zaraki overbore him. The poor kid barely had time to spin out of the way. Ichigo immediately called for Rukia, since he didn't have his Shinigami badge with him, and the smaller girl hit him in the chin, knocking his lifeless body into the air a few feet before it skidded to the ground. Ichigo took a moment to glare at her for mistreating his body before he whirled around, Zangetsu in hand, to face the monster that was Zaraki Kenpachi.

On the other side of the table, Urahara chuckled in an evil sort of way and leaned in toward the three ignorant humans, "You are in for a show. I don't envy poor Kurosaki one bit." The evil blonde bastard chuckled and Tatsuki, Mizuiro and Keigo shrank back slightly, turning their attention to the raging battle in front of them. They could not help but wince as Zaraki's maniacal laughter rang throughout the basement.

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About an hour later Ichigo lay panting and sweating, completely exhausted from his fight with Zaraki. Said crazy bastard was in a similar condition, only he was chuckling slightly, flexing his arm against strain the workout provided. The two were grinning at each other though, and the other guests of Urahara were laughing at some new story the blonde was telling them, most likely an embarrassing one about Ichigo. Said boy grunted in annoyance. Ichigo got up from his resting spot on a jutting rock and jumped lightly down so he could drink some tea. He was damn tired!

Just as he lifted the tea cup to his lips, Rukia's cell phone went off with its annoying shriek. All eyes turned to Rukia as her violet eyes trained on Ichigo, who was still in mid-drink.

"Hollow. Go," Urahara said, smiling like an idiot and making a shooing motion with his hands.

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Author's Notes: Sorry once again, for the short chapter. I've already explained this to a reviewer, but I have certain things I want to get done in a chapter and once I get that goal accomplished, the chapter is done no matter how short or long it is. But don't worry, they get longer :)

Please leave a review!

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TG © March 2008


	5. Chapter 4

**Exposed**

By TG

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Author's Note: Oh my fucking gosh!! I JUST saw episode 166, like not even five minutes ago, and it was SO FUCKING GOOD! If you haven't seen it yet, go watch. Now. In fact, it was so bitchin' that I decided I was going to update this now (it's still Friday in my time zone lol) AND update it tomorrow. That's how pumped I am from the new ep. Omg. still in shock

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Exposed

Chapter IV

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"Hollow. Go," Urahara said, smiling like an idiot and making a shooing motion with his hands. Ichigo and Rukia narrowed their eyes at him but did not say anything. They knew the blonde man was up to something, but there was no time to question him now since Rukia's cell phone was still shrieking. They looked at each other and nodded, using shunpo to reach the Hollows faster.

As soon as they were out of sight, Urahara laughed openly and grabbed the three humans, "I'm going to take you guys to watch a real fight, like I did in the beginning with Inoue and Chad."

Tatsuki, Mizuiro and Keigo looked at him funny, but he chose to ignore their glances and grabbed all three of them and ran out of the basement with them. The other Shinigami who had been sitting with Urahara at the table just grunted and continued to drink their tea, letting Rukia and the Substitute hand it. Tessai grinned and set down a plate of sandwiches on the table and tried not to laugh as the Shinigami practically tore each other apart trying to get at them.

Mizuiro stared at Urahara as he lead the threesome to a bridge overlooking most of Karakura town, saying that this was where he had brought Inoue and Chad when they were first exposed to their own powers when Ichigo fought the Menos Grande. Even though they had been told that they did not have powers of their own, just left over residue from Ichigo's ridiculously enormous reiatsu, he thought maybe the weird blonde guy had an ulterior motive for taking them to see Ichigo and Rukia fight off these _things._ Whatever they were.

Mizuiro was not sure what he thought about Ichigo's powers and how much he wanted to believe, and from the looks on Tatsuki and Keigo's faces, they felt the same way. These supposed powers did make sense though, after he had thought about it a while. What with Ichigo's random absences during the school hours and the quick way he and Rukia had grown closer. It wasn't in Ichigo's nature to become close to others so fast; it had taken him a whole year's worth of martial arts classes to become friends with Tatsuki and he becomes friends with a new girl over night? Not likely.

His thoughts were distracted by a loud, echoing BOOM! He, Tatsuki and Keigo whipped their heads around to see where the noise had come from and were shocked to see a splash of orange against the backdrop of dust particles.

'There is no way that Ichigo was part of that,' Tatsuki thought, nervous for her friend's well-being. Sure, they had been told many stories about how their orange-haired friend had escaped death upon many an occasion, but it was different hearing it versus seeing it first hand!

It was an amazing spectacle to behold… At least to the three who had never really witnessed their friend killing Hollows. To Ichigo, however, this was just boring exercise. These Hollows were low-class and annoying and he should not have to waste his energy killing these things!

Ichigo groaned as he sliced through three more Hollows effortlessly, and next to him Rukia was tearing through them as well. He turned and jumped to avoid a claw and a tail, twisted in midair, and smashed into another Hollow's mask. Rukia flashed him a smile next to him in the seconds she could spare to look away and he grinned to himself as he cut off another Hollow's arm, making it howl in pain. Ichigo chuckled sadistically before he purified it. Another wave of Hollows just appeared to replace their fallen comrades and Ichigo grumbled, rather pissed now.

'Where the fuck do these things keep coming from? There has to be a garganta open somewhere,' he thought to himself using Getsuga Tenshou to slice through five Hollow masks at once. 'That or they're drawn to my reiatsu.'

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Rukia dodge another tail and do a dainty spin to avoid a tentacle. He laughed a little to himself; the words 'dainty' and 'Rukia' do not belong in the same sentence. It didn't really matter what her methods were, Ichigo noted as she destroyed both Hollows at the same time, as long as she could get the job done. Which she could. He felt a small amount of pride in her before he smothered it and turned to focus on the Hollows in front of him.

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Keigo was in awe. Admitted, he was usually pretending to be in awe of his orange-haired friend when he jumped on him before school everyday, but this was full-fledged wonder he was feeling as he watched his friend slice through monster after monster after monster, barely even stopping to take a breather with that huge-ass sword of his. How did a guy so scrawny manage to hold up a sword so gigantic, anyways? Keigo would probably never know, because knowing Ichigo, the guy would punch him senseless if he even so much as asked.

Keigo sighed. It was good to know some things would probably (hopefully, he added to himself) never change. Ichigo may be a monster-killing Shinigami, or whatever the hell he was, but he would always be Ichigo and that thought comforted him. The other two seemed to have reached the same conclusion about this as he noticed their stances relax.

Yes, Keigo may have been playing stupid in school, and admittedly he wasn't so much book-smart as he is observant, but he is in no way stupid.

Next to Keigo, Urahara grinned in a sadistic-bastard kind of way as he watched Ichigo's three friends take in the sight in front of them. He had been looking for a little entertainment today, and it seems as though he had found it.

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Ichigo grinned as he killed the last three Hollows with a Getsuga Tenshou and turned to see Rukia staring off in the distance. He frowned.

"What's up, midget?"

"Is that Urahara up there on that bridge?" Rukia asked, still squinting as though it was going to help her see better.

"Erm…" Ichigo squinted too and even moved a hand up to his forehead to block out the imaginary brightness when he saw four figures; three relatively short and one tall, with a hat. "Yup, that's Urahara, and those seem to be my friends…."

Rukia waited for Ichigo's brain to catch up with his mouth.

"Wait… Fuck. Shit. This is so not good," Ichigo moaned. "It was one thing to tell them about it, but another for them to see it!"

Rukia stared at Ichigo as he whined. "Shut up, idiot. They're just watching. Urahara confirmed that none of them have any powers, so don't whine anymore. Plus, I think I can feel another Hollow."

Rukia whipped out her cell phone and stared at the screen a few moments longer than necessary, and Ichigo was about to claw the phone away from her because she didn't seem to want to tell him anything _damnit_, when she finally spoke up.

"It seems that we have an Arrancar," she muttered as she looked up at him. "A fairly strong one. Might be an Espada."

Ichigo sighed, cricked his neck, ran his fingers though his hair and nodded. Just as he opened his mouth to tell Rukia what his opinion was on the matter (more like to tell her what to do), a garganta formed in the air in front of him and both Shinigami gaped as Grimmjow Jeagerjacques stepped out.

"Yo, Shinigami."

Ichigo immediately schooled his face into something like a mixture of worry and determination, though it was hard, and turned, yelling, "Rukia! Go get my friends out of here and tell the others not to worry. This one's mine." He emphasized this point as he slung Zangetsu over his shoulder, grinning lopsidedly in what he hoped was a feral sort of smile.

Rukia gave him one more look and then she turned and left, shunpo-ing toward the bridge where Urahara and Ichigo's friends were.

"What's going on?" Urahara asked, hiding his smirk behind his fan.

"Ichigo wants to take the Espada himself," Rukia murmured.

"Ah. This is the one that's nearly killed him twice now, yes? He probably wants a little revenge… I just hope the Espada doesn't kill him this time!" Urahara exclaimed in a suspiciously excited sort of voice.

"W-What?!" Tatsuki yelled, whirling around to face Urahara who had to hide his smile behind his fan. Beside her Keigo and Mizuiro's eyes had gone as wide as saucers and their jaws were practically touching the pavement of the bridge as they took in what he had just 'let slip.'

"No no! Nothing to worry about at all! Let's go, shall we Kuchiki-san?" Urahara giggled. Yes, he was certainly getting the entertainment he'd been looking for. "Would you mind taking Miss Arisawa while I handle the other two?"

Getting a nod from the Shinigami, he picked up Keigo and Mizuiro, despite the brunette's protesting, and shunpo-ed away after Rukia. Urahara had to bite his tongue to stop the laughter from bubbling out.

'Really, Kurosaki-kun, this is too much,' he thought with a smile as he disappeared from sight.

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A few hundred yards away from them, Ichigo watched as his friends turned away and shunpo-ed back to the Shoten with Urahara and Rukia before turning back to snarl angrily at Grimmjow.

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Author's Note: Yes. Grimmjow's entrance. Grimmlove!

Also… Damn. Still in shock at how smexy Grimm-kitty is in his Resureccion form. Love it!

What did you all think about the chapter/episode? Let me know!!

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TG © March 2008


	6. Chapter 5

**Exposed**

By TG

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Author's Note: Well, this chapter is another short chapter, sorry… But I hope the fact that Grimm-kitty is in this chapter will make it alllllll better!

Disclaimer (AGAIN!): I need to say that this fic, although it probably resembles many other fics, was not taken from said fics. I did not steal ideas.. I came up with this one all on my own (surprise) and any resemblance is coincidental.

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Exposed

Chapter V

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Ichigo snarled at the blue-haired man standing across from him after having checked that his friends were a relatively safe distance away (there is no safe distance where Grimmjow is concerned, Ichigo thought). The carrot-top shunpo-ed in directly in front of Grimmjow and punched the smirking bastard in the face, wincing as his knuckles scraped the bone mask. Grimmjow just laughed at him, which only incensed him more, so Ichigo hooked a hand around his neck, blunt nails clawing at the skin there as he twined his fingers painfully into blue hair and yanked the surprised Espada forward.

Ichigo's lips crashed into Grimmjow's rather violently and the teal-haired bastard shivered. The kiss was his favorite kind; it was not gentle, nor was it loving or tender. Grimmjow knew his lips would be swollen and kiss-bruised, but he couldn't bring himself to care as he smirked into the kiss. He shoved his tongue into the Shinigami's mouth, caressing, no, plundering Ichigo's mouth until the younger man snarled and bit his tongue, drawing more blood. Grimmjow grinned; yes, he loved the taste of blood.

Just as soon as the kiss, if it could be called a kiss, began, it ended. Ichigo sprang away from him and punched the blue-haired fucktard again, in the mouth. This time Grimmjow was not laughing; instead, he spat out blood that Ichigo assumed was a mixture from the kiss and the punch, and turned his blue eyes on the seething strawberry. Ichigo nearly withered under the intense, heated stare of his enemy and for long moments the two stood on the street, just staring at each other, drinking the other in. Then Grimmjow opened his mouth.

"What the fuck was that for, retard?"

Ichigo stared at him a little longer before answering, "You ignore me for two months, and then you come here and all you can say is 'yo, Shinigami'? What the _fuck_."

Grimmjow stared at Ichigo, surprised, before breaking into his half-mad smile as he walked slowly, purposefully closer to the shorter man. "Ichi, you missed me, didn't you?" He murmured, raising a suggestive eyebrow and slowly drawing Pantera.

Ichigo gave a strangled yell and surged forward, Zangetsu clashing with Pantera, their faces inches from each other. Grimmjow laughed and stole a kiss from the Shinigami, licking Ichigo's lips to infuriate the younger man before dancing away, out of Ichigo's reach.

Ichigo growled and leapt forward, bringing his sword up in a wide arch. Grimmjow laughed again and barely dodged the attack, saying, "Sorry kid. I know it's been a long time and you can be mad if you want, but I've got something to tell you."

"Later," Ichigo snarled, calming down a bit as he gazed at the man across from him. "We have to at least keep up pretenses." Both men kept circling, like alpha males vying for dominance. Ichigo suddenly stopped, almost catching Grimmjow off-guard, and lowered his sword, sighing. There was a slight pause before, "You're right."

Grimmjow lowered his sword as well and stared at the Shinigami, surprised. "About what?" And he added silently, 'Since when do you admit when you're wrong, brat?'

"I did miss you," Ichigo mumbled, lowering his eyes to the ground. "It's been two months."

Grimmjow grinned, wondering how much that admission had hurt the Shinigami's pride. He walked toward the teenager and, completely out of character, enveloped the kid in his arms. Ichigo gave a squawk of protest, but slowly relaxed in his lover's arms, mumbling a repeat about keeping up pretenses. Deciding the kid was right, Grimmjow tightened his hold for a second before pulling back and kissing Ichigo soundly on the lips. The younger man sighed and pulled back, resting his forehead on Grimmjow's chest.

A swift punch to the stomach had Grimmjow bending over and gasping, trying not to laugh.

'Man, the kid's all about surprises today.'

He jumped back to grab Pantera from where he dropped it, only to find Ichigo had already raised his sword in an offensive stance. The Sexta Espada lifted his own sword to block and smiled at his lover. "Keeping up pretenses, eh?"

Ichigo roared in anger, but his chocolate browns glinted with a different emotion; happiness, excitement. He jumped away only to charge back and attack the blue-haired man. The two enemies sparred for a good half an hour, enjoying and savoring every drop of blood they drew from one another.

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An hour later they were beginning to grow exhausted; the absence of adrenaline that had run through their veins and the blood lost between them making them drowsy. They had ended up sitting back to back in the grass of Karakura Park, panting and bleeding all over the ground. Grimmjow looked over his shoulder at the orange-haired kid and smirked; Ichigo looked to be asleep with his eyes closed and his face arranged in a peaceful expression Grimmjow had only seen after sex. So of course the bastard nudged his shoulder. Anything to wipe that peaceful look off the other's face. Ichigo grunted and Grimmjow tried not to snicker.

"Hey kid, you think it's been long enough to be convincing?" Ichigo hid a smile and kissed his shoulder, the only part of Grimmjow he could reach at the moment.

"Yeah. Hey Grimm?"

"Hmm?"

"Stay this time?"

Grimmjow opened his eyes and turned around to face the teenager, Ichigo's back to his chest, and wrapped his arms loosely around him. "Ichigo. That's why I came."

The kid's eyes widened comically and he strained his neck to get a glimpse of his lover to see if he was telling the truth. Grimmjow had to swallow his laugh. "What?! For real?"

"Yeah. Listen kid, Aizen-bastard found out about us. He had that freak Ulquiorra follow me the last time I came to see you. Then when I tried to go see you a week later, he followed me himself and caught me. He took me to the dungeons and kept me in there for the past two months. Damn son of a bitch," Grimmjow growled. He looked up to see Ichigo staring at him. "Obviously I escaped and came here. Although," the Espada continued, rubbing his chin, "I wouldn't be surprised if he let me go on purpose."

Ichigo sighed and snuggled into Grimmjow's loose embrace and mumbled, "We should get to the Urahara Shoten. He'll give you a gigai for now, but we'll have to explain ourselves." Grimmjow understood what that last statement meant and sighed in agreement.

"Might as well, since Aizen knows I bet the whole of Hueco Mundo knows too." Ichigo just nodded against him and made to get up to take him to Urahara's. Grimmjow grabbed his wrist to stop him and for a moment they both just stared at each other, chocolate brown into sky blue, and then Grimmjow pulled him in for a soft, almost chaste kiss (Or at least as chaste as Grimmjow gets, Ichigo thought, smirking).

They stood up together and Ichigo lead the Sexta Espada to the Shoten, hoping that his friends had gone home already so the lovers wouldn't have to face them yet. Looking at Grimmjow, who was staring up into the sky with a thoughtful look on his face, Ichigo knew that they weren't really ready to admit their relationship, but they would if they had to.

'What is Soul Society going to think about me now?'

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Author's Note: Hm… It's a little OOC but that's the way the cookie crumbles :)

Don't forget to review!! Thanks to everyone who's been sticking with me so far.

Oh, and go read Neglect! Lol.

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TG © March 2008


	7. Chapter 6

**Exposed**

By TG

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Author's Note: Wow… There's NOTHING going on on … I am getting REALLY bored waiting for GrimmIchi stories to be updated, so I decided, even though this will be the fourth freaking day in a row, that I will update once again.

I want to thank you for the support: I have 12 favorites and 17 alerts and a staggering 2276 hits! Which reminds me… Wondering why people favorite and alert me and don't review... Anyone got an answer? Lol.

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Exposed

Chapter VI

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Rukia sighed.

She had been waiting for Ichigo to get back for an hour now; she sincerely hoped that that Espada hadn't beat him up again. Or worse, killed him. She drummed her fingers on her leg as she, Renji, and Urahara waited (rather impatiently) for the teenager to get back.

Just as she was about to utter another sigh and get up to make coffee, the door to the Shoten burst open and two silhouettes appeared in the doorway. Ichigo walked in first, followed by the Espada he had been fighting with, both of them bloody and tired-looking.

Instantly Rukia and Renji were on their feet, their zanpakutos drawn. Ichigo walked to stand in front of the Espada and ignored the two Shinigami completely, turning to face Urahara.

"We need a gigai for him," Ichigo muttered, looking Urahara in the eye as he spoke. Whatever message Ichigo was trying to send, the blonde man seemed to understand it as he nodded and left to his basement to start making the gigai. The carrot-top tried to ignore Rukia and Renji's blatant stares.

Ichigo turned back tiredly to face his two friends, asking, "Did you send Tatsuki, Keigo and Mizuiro home already?" Rukia nodded and Ichigo sighed, sitting down heavily on the couch. He was aware that the two Shinigami in the room had followed his every movement and watched tiredly as their eyes shifted to the Espada still bleeding profusely on the wood flooring.

"Listen, Rukia, Renji… I know I have some explaining but do you mind if we," here he gestured toward Grimmjow and himself, "go take a shower? We're bloody, we're tired, we're sweaty…"

Rukia and Renji nodded, still obviously confused and a little guarded as to why an enemy was in the house with them, but they couldn't refuse this request, especially since it came from Ichigo and _especially_ since they wanted answers and he was willing to give them later. They sheathed their zanpakutos and sat down on the couch. Ichigo gave them a shaky smile in thanks and reached for the blue-haired Espada to take him with.

The two Shinigami glanced at each other, wondering what that was all about, but decided to refrain from asking since Ichigo had said he would explain later. They heard the shower start up and settled down, not really bothering to wonder why the two men, who were supposed to be enemies, were showering together.

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Ichigo sighed as he turned the water on hot in the tub and turned away to start undressing. He winced as he pulled off clothes that were stuck to his skin where the blood had dried. Once he was done, he looked up at himself in the mirror to view his numerous injuries and his eyes connected with Grimmjow, who was standing behind him. Grimmjow was smiling rather uncharacteristically at him and Ichigo couldn't help but smile softly back. He turned around and suddenly Grimmjow was hugging him, running the long, pale fingers of one hand through his hair and gripping Ichigo's hip with the other. Ichigo sighed and wrapped his arms softly around Grimmjow's waist, nuzzling into the crook of the Espada's neck.

The pair stood like that for awhile before Ichigo broke away to turn the shower on. They both kicked away their peeled-off clothing while ignoring their groaning muscles, and stepped in, the hot water stinging their wounds and turning the bottom of the tub red with their blood.

'This is so weird. Grimm's not trying to dry hump me or something,' Ichigo thought as he rinsed his hair of shampoo and winced as it stung the wounds on his back as the suds ran down his body.

They took turns washing and twenty minutes later they had ended up just standing together under the hot spray, arms draped around each other's hips. Grimmjow could tell Ichigo was nervous about telling his friends, but there really was no excuse he could come up with that would explain why Grimmjow wanted a gigai. He knew Ichigo could just tell them that Grimmjow had escaped and wanted to become an informant, but this wouldn't gain their trust and they would still be suspicious of him. Grimmjow had to admire the kid's bravery.

"Grimm," Ichigo said, interrupting Grimmjow's thoughts, "we need to get out sooner or later and face Rukia and Renji. Might as well do it sooner rather than later."

Grimmjow nodded and untangled himself from the teenager to step out of the shower. They helped each other towel dry, still sore, and tried not to think dirty thoughts about one another (lol). It had been two months and they were both sexually charged and needing to relieve the tension, but they both realized it would not be tonight; they were exhausted mentally and physically.

Silently they opened the bathroom door, now fully dressed, and went out into Urahara's living room to face their judgment. The two men stood in front of Renji and Rukia, who were looking expectantly up at Ichigo. Grimmjow almost felt bad for the younger man because he had to do all the explaining, but it wasn't his fault Ichigo had such uptight friends. The Espada had to resist the urge to snort.

"Well, you see… Um…" Ichigo began, running a hand nervously through his wet hair.

"Cut to the point already, idiot!" The raven-haired girl smirked. Grimmjow shot her a look, wondering why the hell she was speaking to his strawberry like that. She glared right back at him and turned to look at Ichigo expectantly.

"Yeah, why the fuck did you bring _that_ here?" Renji asked, his voice contorting slightly into anger. Ichigo snarled and Renji backed away, his eyebrows raised. "What, being protective of the enemy now, Ichigo? What the hell is your problem?"

"What's my problem? I don't have a problem!" Ichigo seethed back. "If you would just fucking listen to me instead of being a shithead, I could explain why this bastard's here!" He said, gesturing wildly at Grimmjow, who raised an eyebrow at him.

"Oh, do go on. I would love to hear this," Renji said, not bothering to hide his sarcasm. Ichigo growled at him and turned away.

"Listen, he's here because I asked him to be here." Ichigo stopped here, knowing that he had his friends' attention. "We've been… involved… for a while now. Since the second time we fought each other, actually. It was kind of an accident at first, but… Well, we were both attracted to each other and at first it was just physical stuff. Grimm would come once in a while and hide his reiatsu and we'd have a little fun. But then it grew into something more… A kind of backwards, twisted relationship."

"Wait," Renji interrupted, staring incredulously at Ichigo. "You're saying you and that are involved? You've been involved all this time? What the hell does 'involved' even mean?"

Before Ichigo could open his mouth, Grimmjow answered the last question for him. "Fucking, Shinigami."

Ichigo's mouth fell open, as did Rukia and Renji's, and he turned to glare at his lover. Grimmjow just shrugged, smirking faintly and gestured for Ichigo to take over. Ichigo sighedand replied, "Well, yeah. Anyway, Aizen found out about him sneaking off to see me and caught him and detained him for two months. He finally escaped and came to me for help."

"So what, you just want us to accept this?" Rukia asked, her voice an octave higher than normal as she stood up from her position on the couch. "I can't believe you! I thought this whole time, we had grown closer!"

"We have Rukia!" Ichigo exclaimed, sounding a little desperate now. "You're my best friend! I wasn't faking that!" He watched as Rukia sighed and sat back down on the couch. Renji had remained silent, but Ichigo could tell he was having troubles believing that Ichigo of all people had been involved with the enemy.

Ichigo sighed and Grimmjow had to admire his calm. Poor kid had to be worked up on the inside, probably all nervous and shit, but he was barely showing it on the outside. Ichigo glanced at him then, and he knew that his lover was beginning to give up hope that his friends would understand.

"Look guys, Grimm has asked to stay with us and help us out. How can we pass this up?"

Renji shook his head. "Listen man, I don't know if what you're saying is true. Why should we listen to you about anything concerning him?"

"Yeah, I don't know about this Ichigo. I trust you, but why should I believe this?" Rukia added.

"Why should you trust him? Because _I_ trust him! I hate Aizen just as much as everyone else does! I want this war to be won just as much as the Gotei 13, so why can't you just trust that I know what I'm doing?"

"I know that you trust him, you've said so already! _How_ do you trust him! I don't understand it!" Rukia screamed back at him, needing to understand.

"Because I love him!" Ichigo shouted back in Rukia's face.

Everything became deadly silent in the Shoten as Renji stared up at the strawberry, his mouth opening and closing like a fish. Rukia sat back down on the couch, unaware that she had even stood up in the first place, and Grimmjow stared in surprise at his lover.

Renji was the first to speak up. "There's no way that what's going on between you is love. How do you intend to prove this, Ichigo?"

Ichigo looked down at the ground, trying to avoid making eye contact with any of them. "I really do. It doesn't really matter what you think. But if you're so intent on getting proof that I love Grimm, then I'll prove it by taking full responsibility for his actions if he slips up."

Everyone in the room stared at Ichigo again (Ichigo was beginning to get annoyed with all this staring by now) and he swallowed audibly. "Look, I'm serious. If he slips up or whatever, I'll go to Soul Society and face whatever punishment. I'll do what it takes to prove this to you, even though I don't really have to since it's none of your business."

The two Shinigami eyed the Substitute before nodding, albeit reluctantly, in acceptance. Ichigo sighed and sat down on the floor, too exhausted, emotionally and physically, to bother walking a foot to the couch. Grimmjow crouched next to his lover and wrapped Ichigo in his arms, rubbing the kid's back soothingly. Ichigo leaned into him and sighed. Rukia got up suddenly and stomped out of the room, angry, and Renji followed her, throwing back a look of half-apology.

Ichigo groaned, tired, and let his head fall back completely against Grimmjow's shoulder. Grimmjow just leaned forward and nibbled on Ichigo's earlobe before whispering, "You'll okay, I promise. I can't believe you offered yourself like that, though. You're fucking amazing." Grimmjow licked the outer shell of his lover's ear and blew on it, grinning as the kid shivered.

Ichigo groaned again, but for a different reason.

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Author's Notes: Hm, not much to say… 'Cept I'm done!

Anyone else pissed that after episode 167, there will be ANOTHER filler arc? Which brings me to another question (I'm full of those this chapter, aren't I?): any theories about what happens in the next episode? Does Grimmjow die? Does Ulquiorra come back and interrupt their fight? Let me know!!

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TG © March 2008


	8. Chapter 7

**Exposed**

By TG

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Author's Note: Yo. So… It's official. I'm totally obsessed with Grimmjow. I'm even thinking about getting a 6 tattoo. I'm already getting a star tattoo in memory of my grandma, so maybe I can sneak another one in without the parents noticing when I go back to get it colored…heh.

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Exposed

Chapter VII

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The rays of the sun poked through the window of the Urahara Shoten and Ichigo blinked his eyes open. He was rather surprised it was morning already, but then he had been really tired last night, exhausted from emotions that he usually didn't allow himself to feel. Ichigo rolled over and came face to face with a wide awake and already dressed Grimmjow. The orange-haired teen yelped in surprise, now fully awake, and scrambled back. Next to him, Grimmjow chuckled and handed him some clothes that someone must have brought from home. Ichigo took them and noticed for the first time that Grimmjow's mask and hole were absent.

"So," he yawned tiredly, "Urahara made you a gigai overnight, eh?" He sighed and got out of the warm futon to put on his clothes. When he straightened, he noticed that Grimmjow even had normal human clothes on. Ichigo smirked at Grimmjow and the Espada-turned-human smirked back.

"Looks good on you," Ichigo mumbled, blushing slightly.

Grimmjow grinned and took his hand. "I thought we'd go for a walk today in the park. After all, it _has_ been two months." His lover blushed at this comment and followed him, stopping only to get a piece of buttered toast from Yoruichi, whom he hadn't noticed last night.

Grimmjow grinned and tugged him over to Karakura Park, where they had ended up after they fought the night before. Ichigo smiled, wondering if this was what it was like to be a normal couple on a normal date instead of a Shinigami/Vaizard and an Espada. They were still holding hands and Ichigo laced his fingers with Grimmjow's, half expecting the Espada to pull away. When he didn't Ichigo looked up to see the older man smiling down at him. Ichigo smiled shakily back and Grimmjow pulled away to wrap his arm around the strawberry's waist.

All was silent for most of the walk until Grimmjow opened his mouth.

"Listen Ichigo… I… I'm not good at saying thank you, but what you did at the Shoten was beyond my expectation. I want to help you out. I was thinking maybe, since I know Aizen better than any of you, I could help."

"You mean be an informant?" Ichigo asked as he stopped walking.

"Yeah," Grimmjow grinned, tugging the kid's hand to get him to move again. Ichigo looked at him a moment longer and nodded, smiling.

Ichigo couldn't help but wonder why Grimmjow would offer himself to the Shinigami. For all Ichigo knew, the Sexta Espada hated both sides and wouldn't want to participate in the war at all. That was why Ichigo was rather surprised when Grimmjow volunteered to give information. The kid pondered all the reasons that Grimmjow had to promise his help, and came to one conclusion. He really didn't have a reason unless it was because of what Ichigo did, what he had said. Last night he had said he was in love with Grimmjow, and he knew that Grimm wouldn't be able to say it back so easily. Maybe this was Grimm's way of admitting his feelings?

Ichigo squeezed the Espada's hand to get his attention and murmured, "I understand. Thank you, Grimmjow."

Grimmjow stared at the teenager in shock. He hadn't expected Ichigo to understand his reasons behind offering himself to the Shinigami, but it seems the kid had caught on rather quickly. Grimmjow had to admit, he was impressed. He really had no place left to him anymore, in any world, and especially not Hueco Mundo. Ichigo's voice interrupted his thoughts again.

"Listen, I know you're too proud to admit you're sad or lonely or worried, and I know that Hueco Mundo was your only home since you probably don't remember your past life here in the material world, and that's okay. It's perfectly find to feel that way. I understand perfectly, and I'm here." The carrot-top said all of this without looking anywhere but the ground, his hand tight around Grimmjow's, who had nearly stopped walking in surprise. Ichigo looked up at him with a smirk on his face and Grimmjow grinned back, silently thanking his lover for his insight.

'I wonder when the idiot went from being stupid and arrogant to understanding? Since when has he known me so well?'

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Rukia sighed and ran her hand through her sudsy hair. She heard Ichigo leave with Grimmjow and had decided to take a shower. She always loved the shower because it gave her some alone time to think, which she desperately needed right now.

She had thought for a few moments at least, that she and Ichigo could have had a relationship. Maybe that was why she was so shocked when he admitted his love for Grimmjow and the fact that they had been dating for so long. Well, maybe not dating. More like 'involved,' which was the word that Ichigo had used. She felt kind of foolish that she had even thought about her and Ichigo ever being together. After all, they were really just best friends, and besides, she was a dead woman. If she cared about him at all, she wouldn't let him fall for her. So why had she hoped things would one day amount to that?

Rukia really had no answer for that. Perhaps she was just selfish. She frowned at the way she had acted last night; the way she had stormed out of the room upon seeing Grimmjow comforting Ichigo was embarrassing enough. She hoped Ichigo wouldn't think she was angry with him, because really, she had been the one with blinders on. She leaned back against the tile of the shower and enjoyed the warm water flowing over her skin.

A loud bang startled her out of her relaxation and she could hear two husky voices, one familiar and the other not quite so. She turns the shower off and steps out, wrapping a towel around her body and slipping into a bathrobe, thankful that Urahara had let her and Renji stay for as long as they needed.

Rukia opened up the door and peeked out, surprised to see that Grimmjow, the Espada, had Ichigo up against the wall, a knee between the teenager's legs, kissing the living daylights out of each other. She watched, blushing, as Ichigo moaned and wrapped his legs around the Espada's waist as Grimmjow rolled his hips into Ichigo's. They both groaned and Ichigo threw his head back hard against the wall, but didn't seem to realize that it should have hurt. Grimmjow attacked Ichigo's neck and collarbone and the younger man twined his hands in Grimmjow's blue hair. Rukia's blush deepened as Ichigo's hoarse, husky voice called out Grimmjow's name, his hands slipping from the blue hair to push at his shoulders. Grimmjow detached his lips from Ichigo's earlobe and looked at him in frustration.

"Not here, Grimm," Ichigo panted. "I know it's been 2 months but please, I don't want to disrespect my friends. Especially since they just found out."

Ichigo begged with his eyes to be understood, eyes that were half-lidded and hazy with lust. Grimmjow growled at him and backed away, giving Ichigo ample time to find his footing again. The kid gripped Grimmjow's shoulders as they caught their breath. Rukia sighed and loudly (to make sure they heard and had time to detangle themselves) walked down the stairs. She smiled, trying hard not to snicker at the fact that Ichigo and Grimmjow were now on complete opposite sides of the hallway.

"Ichigo. I want to apologize for my actions last night," she said on a whim, holding out her hand. She watched as a slow smile blossomed on her friend's face as he accepted her hand and her apology.

"No harm, no foul," he said happily. Grimmjow came up behind him and put a hand on his shoulder and lay his head down on Ichigo's. Rukia chuckled at the height difference, realizing that Ichigo was almost a whole head shorter than his lover. Once again, she barely managed to hold back her laughter.

'At least the idiot's happy now. As his best friend, that's all I could ever ask for,' Rukia thought as she turned to the room Urahara had given her and began to get dressed. Outside the room, she could hear Grimmjow and Ichigo's laughter.

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Author's Note: So um… 167 comes out tomorrow. Darn you people for telling me when I only asked for theories. Lol.

Um… hopefully you enjoyed. Now please review :D I have a doctor's appointment tomorrow (boo) and reading many, many reviews will make me feel happier (and update faster)!

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TG © March 2008


	9. Chapter 8

**Exposed**

By TG

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_Author's Note:_ Hope you enjoy this one as much as last.. We go back to Tatsuki, Keigo and Mizuiro for a bit. Also, I wanted to thank those of you who reviewed and favorite and alerted and so on. You made my doctor visit much more bearable… lol.

_Ramblings:_ Well, it's rainy and cloudy but hot here… Glad it's finally starting to get hot. And naoto-san, I might be able to send you some pictures soon, although we haven't had any tornados since last week and it doesn't look like there's any more severe weather for a while… /sad face/

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Exposed

Chapter VIII

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"You know, Tatsuki, you're going to wear a hole in the floor if you don't stop pacing soon. I know you're worried; we all are. It's been 9 hours. But Kuchiki-san did say that she would let us know that Ichigo was okay," Mizuiro said soothingly, lightly grasping the girl's wrist to get her to stop and pay attention to him. Tatsuki just nodded and moved jerkily to sit down.

It had been like this for awhile now. They had decided to take turns by the phone throughout the night so they wouldn't miss Rukia's call. Urahara had explained to them in detail about Hollows and even had told them stories about some of the Hollows Ichigo had fought. In fact, they had been watching Ichigo fight when they had been told to go back to the Shoten.

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"_Ichigo wants to take the Espada himself," Rukia murmured._

"_Ah. This is the one that's nearly killed him twice now, yes? He probably wants a little revenge… I just hope the Espada doesn't kill him this time!" Urahara exclaimed in a suspiciously excited sort of voice._

"_W-What?!" Tatsuki yelled, whirling around to face Urahara who had to hide his smile behind his fan. Beside her Keigo and Mizuiro's eyes had gone as wide as saucers and their jaws were practically touching the pavement of the bridge as they took in what he had just 'let slip.'_

"_No no! Nothing to worry about at all! Let's go, shall we Kuchiki-san?" Urahara giggled. Yes, he was certainly getting the entertainment he'd been looking for. "Would you mind taking Miss Arisawa while I handle the other two?" _

_In no time, they had arrived at the Shoten and were sitting down. The Shinigami in the basement had all gone back to Soul Society for now, to warn the sou-taichou about the attack on the material world. Once they had settled down, Urahara began to explain in a serious voice which silently commanded the kids to pay attention._

"_First, you will go home after this. Rukia here will take you. It doesn't matter if you all go to your respective homes or to one of your homes to wait this out, but you will not stay here. There is a reason for that which I will not explain to you now. Do I have your word?"_

_The three nodded, knowing that if they argued they wouldn't get their explanation. Urahara nodded in satisfaction and continued in a much cheerier voice. "Excellent! Okay, I will explain about the Espada. First, there was this Shinigami who turned bad. He betrayed us and went to another world, called Hueco Mundo. I already explained that this is where Hollows live, right?" Upon receiving affirmations, he continued, "Well, he created a race of Hollow-Shinigami hybrids called Arrancars. They are Hollows who have taken their masks off. Anyway, the strongest of those Arrancars are called Espada. There are ten Espada, and that blue-haired guy is number six, which means he is the sixth strongest in all of Hueco Mundo. Ichigo and he, I think his name is Grimmjow Jeagerjacques, right? Anyhow, Grimmjow and Ichigo have had some run-ins before. I believe you were there for part of them, Rukia?"_

_Rukia nodded. "Yes. The first time he put a hole in my stomach and that's how he got Ichigo to fight him. I don't remember much from that fight, just that Ichigo was beat to nearly an inch of his life. Renji found him. Not even Inoue could heal him all the way. For the longest time, he was almost afraid of fighting anyone. Then Grimmjow came back again and by this time, Ichigo had reigned in his inner Hollow enough to affect the fight.. However it wasn't enough. I came just in time to see Ichigo kneeling on the ground with a sword run through both wrists to pin him down and Grimmjow about to kill him. Then he left to go fight someone else because Ichigo was defeated and was boring him. Ichigo was lucky that time."_

_The three kids stared at Rukia and then Urahara and back, suddenly a lot more worried about their friend than they had been previously. They had thought, watching him fight the Hollows, that he was nearly infallible. But hearing this story led them to believe otherwise. _

"_Now, Kuchiki-san here will take you home. Do you wish to go to your separate homes or do you want to wait together for them to come back?"_

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--end flashback--

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That was how Tatsuki, Keigo and Mizuiro ended up at Tatsuki's house. Inoue had called them about 8 hours ago to tell them that Ichigo was still alive; Inoue had explained to them about sensing reiatsu and how she could still sense Ichigo's. However, the sweet girl seemed to be a little worried about him, but she wouldn't elaborate. She had simply told them not to worry so much before hanging up. This, of course, caused the opposite to happen since none of them could sense reiatsu and Inoue (or anyone, for that fact) didn't call again in the 8, now 9, hours they had been waiting.

The phone suddenly rang and Tatsuki jumped up to grab it, nearly shouting "Hello!?"

"Hi Tatsuki!" Came the cheerful voice of Rukia.

"Oh my gosh, Rukia! It's about damn time someone called!" Tatsuki shouted, her voice going from frantic to angry in a matter of seconds. The two boys in the room glanced at one another and stepped away from the angry karate girl.

"Sorry we didn't call sooner. Listen, a lot of stuff went down last night and we have a lot of explaining to do. This is a lot to take in, I know – "

"Listen, Kuchiki," Tatsuki seethed into the phone, "All I want to know for right now is if Ichigo is okay or not."

Rukia giggled nervously and said, "Yes, Ichigo is fine. He came back about an hour or so after the fight had started and was a little injured. After we talked a little, we healed Ichigo. He is fine. In fact, you can come over if you want, because there is something else we should discuss."

Tatsuki nodded and looked over at Mizuiro and Keigo, saying, "Okay, we'll be there in five minutes."

After she placed the phone in the cradle, she turned around and told the two boys what Rukia had said over the phone. They left a note for Tatsuki's parents (they had already called Mizuiro and Keigo's parents to inform them about their whereabouts) and left for the Shoten to get some information once and for all.

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Ichigo squirmed as his lover poked him in the side. He smacked Grimmjow upside the head and glared at him, as if telling the Espada to 'knock it the fuck off,' when Rukia walked back into the room, hands on her hips. The two men in front of her grinned innocently and she rolled her eyes at them, silently thinking how cute (more like immature) they were together. Now that she had wrapped her mind around it, they did make quite the couple; they were almost exactly alike. Both foul-mouthed, both grumpy, both felt strongly about their beliefs. She shook her head to clear her thoughts.

"Okay, Tatsuki, Keigo and Mizuiro are on their way over. We're going to explain to them about your fight and also about you and Grimmjow," Rukia said quietly. She watched as Ichigo nodded, a worried look passing over his face before he masked it. "Don't worry Ichigo, they are your friends. They might be a little surprised, like Renji and I were, but they will accept it and move on." At this, Ichigo flashed her a bright smile and glanced at Grimmjow, who grinned softly in reassurance. Rukia snorted and both men looked at her like she was crazy.

"Sorry, but you've become a softy, Grimmjow! Last time I saw you, you were cackling insanely and about to blast a Cero off in Ichigo's face. And now look at you!" Grimmjow grunted and turned away, trying to preserve his failing reputation as a badass. Ichigo laughed and gave the blue-haired Espada a noogie before saying, "It's alright Grimm, you're still a badass to me!"

This time both Rukia and Ichigo were snickering as Grimmjow huffed, but a voice interrupted them from the far end of the room.

"Just go on in," Urahara's said quietly, showing the three in and backing out of the doorway slowly.

Tatsuki stopped short, staring at the blue-haired menace in front of her who was sitting casually on the couch in Urahara's living room, his arm slung around Ichigo and pouting while Ichigo and Rukia were laughing. What the fuck?! Hadn't Ichigo just fought this guy? Hadn't Urahara just explained to them about how this guy, Grimmjow, had nearly killed Ichigo twice? And yet, here they were, sprawled on the couch like best friends.

"What the hell is going on here?"

The three looked up, surprised, but Rukia smiled. "Ah, Tatsuki! You're here to hear the explanation, right? So go on, Ichigo, tell her."

Ichigo blanched, his mouth dropping open before he regained control of his brain and said, "Now… Wait a minute Rukia –"

Tatsuki kicked in him the shin and punched him across the face. Ichigo's head snapped around and he groaned. Grimmjow jumped up and was about ready to shout at Tatsuki when the orange-haired teen groaned again and grabbed hold of Grimmjow's clothes to hold him back.

"Don't do that Grimm, I probably deserved it."

Everyone in the room calmed down and Rukia grabbed a towel to clean up Ichigo's nose, which had started bleeding. "Listen, Grimmjow and I are together. We've been together since the second time we fought. The bad guy, Aizen… I think you know about him, don't you?" Upon receiving three nods, he continued. "Good. Well, Aizen found out about Grimm sneaking away to see me and detained him for two months. He can't go back there, so he's staying here with us. He volunteered while we were walking in the park to help us any way he could. So he's here to stay. Please treat him with respect," Ichigo finished, his words sounding funny as he talked through his bleeding nose as Rukia pinched it to stop the blood flowing.

Silence as they all stared at each other, wondering who was going to speak up first. There were a lot of questions on their minds, after all.

"So, what… You're gay?"

More silence as everyone stared at Keigo. Of all the questions anyone could have asked, Keigo had to ask if Ichigo was gay.

Grimmjow snorted, breaking the silence, and soon everyone was laughing. Well, everyone but Ichigo. He was pouting.

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_Author's Notes:_ So… Without telling me any details, let me know how you all liked the latest episode! Ima re-watch 164-the newest one tomorrow night when I have nothing to do!

Please review!!

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TG © March 2008


	10. Chapter 9

**Exposed**

By TG

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Author's RANT: Warning, spoiler!

OMG! I hated the end of 167. It was so IchiHime that I wanted to barf. And is Grimmjow actually dead or is he just passed out or something. I did like the look on Ichigo's face after he stabbed Grimm though... He looked so sad. Like he wished he didn't have to incapacitate Grimm like that. :is hoping Grimm isn't dead: I also enjoyed Grimm's history. He made a sexy panther! I love his eyes.

Okay, I'm done ranting. I was depressed after the episode and didn't feel like writing… So it's a good job I already have these written out, eh?

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Exposed

Chapter IX

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Ichigo and company went back to school the next day. It was an ordinary day in everyone else's eyes, but a lot had changed for Ichigo and his friends. The two nights before they had started out partying with some Shinigami friends and had ended up in an argument about his relationship with Grimmjow. Then the last night he had had to confess all over again to his friends. It had been hard to face their judgment; he had to admit that he had been nervous over their reactions, but everyone had taken it rather well. So now he was back at school, nervous as hell about meeting up with Inoue, Ishida and Chad –those three didn't know about the goings-on really, unless Rukia had told them. Which he would find out soon enough.

Biting his nails, he watched as Tatsuki, Inoue, Ishida and Chad all walked in together, chatting happily. He really shouldn't be so nervous, after all, he did love Grimmjow, so it didn't really matter what they thought. This cheered him up and before he knew it, he was looking into the smiling faces of his friends. He smiled back at them and before he could say anything to them, the teacher walked into the room.

Ichigo sighed and slumped heavily into his desk.

This would be a long day, he could tell already. He wasn't exactly a person who was very emotional, but his experience in the last few days had wiped him clean out. Head on his desk and eyes closed, he drowned out his teacher's ramblings with thoughts of Grimmjow.

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"Ulquiorra, where are you going?" Stark asked as the Cuarto Espada passed by him where he was laying on the floor.

Ulquiorra barely spared the lazy Espada a glance and muttered, "Aizen called for a meeting. You best be going."

Stark grunted at the emotionless green-eyed Espada before pulling himself up with some effort and following him to Aizen's stark-white chambers. Although he would rather sleep, Stark knew better than to piss off Aizen.

A few minutes later and all the Espada were in Aizen's chambers, waiting for whatever news they had been called to hear. On the right, Ichimaru and Tousen walked in through the hidden door and behind them, smiling and dangerously handsome as usual, glided Aizen. The three Shinigami turned traitors sat down in their respective seats in the front of the room and faced the nine Espada. They hadn't bothered to replace the open six position yet.

"As you all know, Grimmjow has left us. The fact is, he has turned traitor with the Shinigami. He might tell you that he is spying or something along those lines. Do not listen to him, and do not hesitate to kill him.

"With that said, I would like to inform all of you on my plans to infiltrate Soul Society."

"We're going there?" Nnoitra asked in a lazy drawl, the standard cup of tea at his lips.

"Yes we are. If we take the war to Soul Society, the damage will be done there rather than here. Their self-esteems will be lowered and they will be surprised. We need the element of surprise, especially since Grimmjow has deserted us. Such a shame, really."

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The bell rang and there was a rush of scraping chairs and the rustle of coats as the high schoolers got ready to go home. Ichigo just sighed as he stood up slowly. He couldn't shake the feeling that something was going to happen, whether it be a confrontation with his friends or something to do with Aizen. He stretched lazily and met his friends outside the classroom door.

The first thing he noticed was Rukia, who looked slightly worried and was bouncing on the balls of her feet.

"Hey, Ichigo," she greeted. Ichigo inclined his head to show that he had heard her greeting and to reply with his own.

He looked up and noticed all his other friends had been waiting for him and nodded at them in greeting as well.

"Come on Kurosaki, Kuchiki said she had something to tell us and we're going to the park," Ishida muttered, pushing up his glasses. Inoue smiled at the nerd and the whole group, which included Tatsuki, Keigo, Mizuiro, and the Shinigami who had been posing as students headed toward the park in an almost tense silence.

The group had reached the park after only a few minutes of walking and half an hour later they were standing in a semi-circle around the Shinigami, trying to digest what they had just been told.

"So, when do you leave for Soul Society?" Inoue asked thoughtfully. She combed her fingers through her hair, trying to keep herself occupied with something other than thoughts of her Shinigami friends who would be leaving soon. She had had such fun with Rangiku, it was a shame to see her go, even though Inoue knew it wouldn't be the last time she'd see the busty girl.

Rukia opened her mouth to reply but was beat by Hitsugaya. "We're leaving tonight from Urahara's. Yamamoto sou-taichou wants us back. We are supposed to be planning the attack on Hueco Mundo, but he thinks Aizen might somehow be planning something as well."

"Then I'm coming with you."

Mizuiro, Keigo and Tatsuki turned to stare incredulously at Ichigo, but the rest ignored him as if his outbursts were a common thing…which they were.

"I'm serious! You're going to use me in the attack, I know you are. I should be in on the strategizing," Ichigo pouted at being ignored.

"No, fool," Rukia said, her violet eyes flashing. "For whatever reason, you are to stay here until we call for you. Maybe it's because you're with Grimmjow and Soul Society doesn't yet trust him. No matter what the reason, you are to stay here until we call for you, understand?"

Ichigo wanted to be childish and shake his head that no, he didn't understand why they refused his offered help, but he knew it was a bad idea. Rukia and the rest were serious, and this was a war. He couldn't be selfish. Ichigo swallowed hard and nodded slowly. Rukia looked a lot happier at his temporary submission and he sighed, stepping forward to give her a brief hug.

"We'll send you a Hell butterfly soon, Ichigo. Don't get your panties too much in a knot, okay?" The boy growled at that and pulled back from the hug, glaring. Rukia chuckled at his scowl and poked him in the nose, eliciting a frustrated yelp. He swatted at her hand but she moved it out of the way too quickly and he only caught air.

Renji cleared his throat at the amusing scene. "Ichigo, let's go to the Shoten. I bet Grimmjow wants to see you –" Ichigo made an 'x' motion with his hands, telling Renji to stop since Inoue and Ishida and Chad didn't know about his relationship yet. Renji caught himself and shook his head as if to clear his previous thoughts and silently offered his back to the humans so they could shunpo.

Rukia glanced at Ichigo who shook his head at her silent question. He'd rather walk, even though it would delay getting to see his lover. Urahara's was only a few blocks away and the orange-haired teen felt the need to spend a moment alone before he had to say goodbye to his Shinigami friends. His head was a mess. Rukia just smiled at him, knowing he didn't like to talk about his feelings and that he needed some alone time to sort himself out. A lot had happened in the last few days after all.

They shunpo-ed away and Ichigo sighed, shuffling his feet to get them moving. He wasn't really happy that he wouldn't be involved in the planning of the attack, since he was sure he would probably be in the lead with the taichous, but at the same time, he could understand. He would be suspicious himself if the same thing had happened to someone else. His thoughts slowly turned to Grimmjow, and how he was going to take the invasion. Hueco Mundo, although not a very hospitable home, was the only one the blue-haired man had ever known; he didn't really remember much about his life in the material world, which is the way Aizen liked it. Ichigo sighed angrily at the thought of the ex-Shinigami.

'It doesn't really matter what Grimm thinks, because Hueco Mundo and all the Espada, and especially Aizen, Ichimaru and Tousen need to be destroyed.'

Ichigo was brought out of his thoughts when he realized he had already walked up to the door of the Shoten and had been standing there for a minute or two already. He blushed and walked in, hearing his friends laughing on the other side of the door. He allowed a tiny grin to replace his usual scowl as he felt arms wrap around his slim waist. He leaned back to enjoy the warmth that Grimmjow offered for a second before stepping away from the older man and continuing on into the living room since Urahara's house and the Shoten were one and the same. He entered the living room and saw that all his friends had gathered there. It was sort of like a goodbye party, even though they would be seeing each other soon.

He sat down on the couch between Rukia and Keigo and listened to his friends jabbering away happily. The babble calmed him down and he relaxed into the couch, sort of wishing he could be relaxing into Grimmjow instead. Before too long, the party had broken up and Ichigo and company got up to see the Shinigami through the gate back to Soul Society.

"Don't forget, idiot. I'll send a Hell butterfly for you once we're done," Rukia said softly, lightly touching his arm. Ichigo grinned down at her and gave her a push.

"Get going, midget."

She tried to punch him, but she was already through the gate, which was closing on her. He heard her frustrated growl and chuckled at her, knowing he would probably get it later. He took a step back and ran into something warm and solid and stumbled a little. Next to him Keigo put a hand on his shoulder to steady him and they both turned around to see Grimmjow smirking down at the orange-haired teen. Said teen blushed furiously and allowed Grimmjow to hug him briefly before stepping back and smiling at him. He knew Grimmjow wanted attention, but Ichigo was mentally tired. He also knew that Grimmjow understood, so Ichigo didn't feel too guilty not giving him the attention he craved. Besides, Grimmjow was a big boy. He had already proven he could take care of himself.

"I'm going to go home and get some sleep. I'll let you know when Rukia tells me something," Ichigo said tiredly, running a hand through his hair. The others nodded and let him go, knowing he was tired and from what Rukia said he would need his strength. Grimmjow sighed and raked a hand through his blue hair. He needed a shower anyway.

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Three days later, the Hell butterfly came in through Ichigo's window, which he had left open for that very purpose… And he had hoped Grimmjow might visit him, but he would never list that as a reason. The thing landed on his index finger and Rukia's words flowed into his mind.

_Ichigo, this is Rukia. Yamamoto sou-taichou has decided on a course of action. We will be invading Hueco Mundo in three days' time and he wants you to help lead the way, since you were there for Inoue a few years ago. You are to go to Urahara's and you are to bring Grimmjow, Ishida, and Chad only, none of your other friends are to come. They do not have powers and wouldn't be of any use to us and Inoue may be problematic in the end. Go tonight, or as soon as you can. You have to train to make sure you're still sharp._

There was a few seconds of silence and then…

_Renji, knock it off or I will kick your face in… No, I don't care if you want to speak to Ichigo too, Yamamoto sou-taichou said to send him this message, not to talk his ear off!... What? This thing is still recordi-_

Ichigo laughed lightly and the butterfly took off. Well, he had what he had been waiting for; permission to go to Soul Society and train. He was excited and wanted to now, damnit, but first he needed to call his friends and let them know what was going on.

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Author's Note: Man.. I just can't wrap my mind around what happened to Grimm. I hope someone can tell me that he didn't actually die lol.

Let me know what you think about the chapter, and don't forget to check out Neglect if you haven't already!

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TG © March 2008


	11. Chapter 10

**Exposed**

By TG

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_Author's Note:_ Hmm… Well, it's been brought to my attention that some of you think Grimmjow isn't badass-y enough… I've been wondering about this since I wrote it, but decided to keep it the way it was because I thought that perhaps two years would mature Ichigo and Grimmjow… However, I will try and find some places to make Grimmjow more badass-y. That's the downfall of a story that was complete before it was published; it's hard to find ways to use suggestions from readers. Keep in mind that this is an AU fic.

Also, I would like to thank the reviewers who helped calm my fears about Grimmjow's health :D

And the anonymous reviewers as well!

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Exposed

Chapter X

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Ichigo laughed tauntingly as Renji slashed down with Zabimaru, missing the orange-haired Substitute completely.

"Way to go, jackass. What's the matter, need some glasses?"

The red-head growled and slashed again, extending his sword in a vicious attack, only to have Ichigo dance away gracefully.

"Since when does Ichigo do graceful?" The red-head grunted to himself as he fell automatically into a defensive stance.

Renji shook his head; it had been a while since he had fought with the boy and Ichigo's fighting style had changed slightly. He was still the same arrogant, impulsive bastard he was two years ago, but he was more mature at 18 (1) and so his fighting style had become slightly more mature as well.

Ichigo just grinned at him and raised Zangetsu above his head, about to deliver the killing blow, but something caught his attention out of the corner of his eye and he stumbled slightly, feeling over-balanced. Both men turned around as someone cleared their throat. Rukia stood a few yards away, smiling softly at her two best friends. They grinned back and sheathed their swords.

"Grimmjow is wondering when you were going to finish up. He's starving."

There was laughter in her voice as Rukia spoke. Ichigo just smirked, imagining Grimmjow at the 11th Division with all the rest of the battle-worn Shinigami, bitching about his empty stomach. The orange-haired teen laughed out loud and ignored the weird looks his two best friends gave him as they walked out of the 6th Division training grounds. To Ichigo's surprise, Grimmjow was waiting for them at the entrance under Byakuya's watchful eye, smirking.

"Grimm!" Ichigo said, his grin growing bigger now as he watched Grimmjow's attention turn to him and his blue eyes light up. "I thought you would be at the 11th."

Grimmjow shook his head and leaned against the post that marked the 6th Division, smirking at the three Shinigami. "Nope. Surprise."

Ichigo's grin changed to a smirk and grabbed the blue-haired Espada, fully intending to drag him away toward the cafeteria with Rukia and Renji when Byakuya cleared his throat delicately. Ichigo and Grimmjow both turned to him and raised a simultaneous eyebrow.

"Yes?" Ichigo asked in a tone that clearly stated he was annoyed.

"Kurosaki, I would like a word with you," Byakuya said with no room in his voice for argument. Ichigo sighed and complied with an irritated look at his friends, following Byakuya back into the division. Once inside, Byakuya turned to the younger man and Ichigo just looked at him, confused.

"Kurosaki, I don't know what you are doing with that Espada, but I don't care. What I do care about is how this _thing_ is going to affect your mission."

Ichigo's eyes flashed in annoyance but he let it go. "It's not your business to care about my personal life, but my relationship, whatever it is, will not affect the way I do things. You of all people should be able to understand this."

Byakuya looked hard at Ichigo for a moment before nodding and turning away. Ichigo relaxed a bit; Byakuya was just worried about the mission, which he had a right to be since Ichigo would be working with the captains. Said man turned back to Ichigo and inclined his head slightly.

"That is all I wanted. You may go now, Kurosaki."

Ichigo nodded his head in thanks and swept out of the room, something he had learned from Byakuya; he knew it annoyed the man and tried to use it often, especially in Byakuya's presence. He hid a smirk and shunpo-ed to the cafeteria where his friends were waiting for him. He smiled at them and they grabbed some bowls of chicken, rice, and beef and some chopsticks and sat down to eat.

A ghost of a smile lifted up the corners of Ichigo's mouth as his friends laughed and talked, but he had a feeling that something was going to happen, like he had had before when he was at school, only this time the feeling, whatever it was, was more intense. He leaned over his food and frowned, not bothering to pick up his chopsticks until his stomach settled down a little. He felt a hand on his leg and looked over at Grimmjow, who was looking out the window away from Ichigo, trying not to seem too concerned. The orange-haired teenager grinned; Grimmjow was failing miserably.

"I'm fine, Grimm," Ichigo mumbled so as not to bother his other friends. "Just don't feel too good, that's all."

Grimmjow didn't bother responding, deciding to leave it alone for the time being. Ichigo looked nervous and a little green, but the kid could take care of himself. The carrot-top knew he wouldn't ask again, so the response was enough to satisfy the blue-haired Espada. For now.

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Day two of Ichigo's stay in Soul Society didn't leave him feeling much better. They would be leaving for Hueco Mundo the very next day. He had gone through several meetings about the attack and it was only just now lunch time. His stomach grumbled and he knew he should eat something, but he felt anxious, jumpy… He didn't want to make himself sick the day before the attack.

Sighing, Ichigo held out his finger for the Hell butterfly that had been circling overhead to land on.

_Ichigo, meet us at the river when you're done. We're having a picnic._

Ichigo smiled at the sound of Rukia's voice and set out to meet his friends; Rukia's instructions were vague but he knew exactly where she meant. There was a little hill with a tree that would provide them shade as they overlooked the river that flowed outside of Rukongai. He slowly and thoughtfully made his way there, knowing that there was no hurry since the rest of the day was his to spend with his friends. All the captains had been sent home after the meetings to spend time with loved ones as well, since the invasion would begin very early the next morning.

He smiled when he reached his friends and sat down on the fuzzy blanket that Rukia had thought to bring for the occasion. It was strange without Inoue there with them, but he could understand why she would be asked to stay. At least Ishida and Chad had volunteered to stay back and protect her so a kidnapping would be less likely to happen again. They didn't need Aizen to get a hold of her powers again.

Grimmjow handed him a bowl full of steaming hot food and just as he was about to spear a piece of chicken with his chopsticks, a loud clacking sound was heard. Rukia and Renji both sat up straight, dropping whatever food was in their hands and jumping up. Grimmjow looked at him and he shrugged, not really understanding what –

'Wait! That was the sound I had heard when I first entered Soul Society to save Rukia!'

"Intruders, Rukia?" He asked to make sure of his theory. Rukia nodded and he stood up immediately and grabbed Grimmjow's arm, shunpo-ing away after his two Shinigami friends. He followed them all the way to the gates of Seireitei, just outside Rukongai where he had first met Ichimaru Gin.

Suddenly he stopped and Grimmjow ran into him, his chin connecting with the back of Ichigo's head. Grimmjow just grumbled and bitched about the carrot-top having a hard-ass head and rubbed his chin, making a big deal out of it. Ichigo ignored it, snorting at the fact that his blue-haired idiot had survived worse injuries but was complaining about a mere bruise and stared at the people in front of him. His breath shortened and his pulse soared and his body became so tense that his muscles started to hurt. His hand grasped the handle of Zangetsu so hard that his knuckles turned white. Behind him he heard a gasp from Rukia and felt Grimmjow's body stiffen against his. Everything around them was completely silent, like the calm before the storm.

"Aizen!"

And the silence was broken.

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_Author's Notes:_ I apologize for the incredible shortness of this chapter. Believe it or not, I actually lengthened it by a page. I know, shocking. I also edited some of Grimmjow's lines to make him seem more badass… But he didn't have a lot of lines so I did the best I could. Also, sorry for the cheesy line at the end. I couldn't resist.

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TG © March 2008

(1)Ichigo's birthday is in June, so it could go either way. He could be young for his class or old for his class, so I picked that he turned 18 the June before his senior year. And yes, this is two years from the anime because the Soul Society arc took place in the summer and therefore during Ichigo's birthday, so he would have been 16 then.


	12. Chapter 11

**Exposed**

By TG

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_Author's Note_: I'm secretly wondering why it's so hard to review when you are 'alerting' and clicking the little blue/purple button anyway… I'm such a terrible person… But that _could_ be why I didn't update and left the mini-cliffhanger up for so long…hinthint… :D

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Exposed

Chapter XI

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The moment Ichigo uttered his name and took a surprised step forward, a white blur lunged at him. He reacted by pure instinct, bringing Zangetsu up to block whatever had just attacked him. In a haze of comprehension, he realized that it wasn't just Aizen who had come; the dangerous ex-Shinigami had brought two other Espada –Stark and Ulquiorra, and it was the latter that had attacked him just now.

The orange-haired Substitute grunted as the Cuarto Espada applied more pressure, his face emotionless as always. The others around him were just beginning to realize what had happened and he felt Grimmjow's hand reach for Pantera behind him.

"Don't!" Ichigo hissed as he pushed off Ulquiorra. "We don't know what they want yet, dumbass!"

Ichigo relaxed slightly and resisted a smile as he felt Grimmjow's tense behind him. The blue-haired idiot was pissed at being called dumbass and being unable to retaliate. This would have delighted Ichigo, if it weren't for the current situation he was in. The teenager turned to face Aizen, his chin lifting of its own accord as he faced down the man who had once tried to cut him in half two short years ago. He surveyed the group Aizen had brought with interest; the way they carried themselves was much more confident than it should have been. After all, the entire Gotei 13 could take them down whenever they wished since Aizen's group was so woefully outnumbered, so to be confident meant they were stupid… Or else they had some kind of bargaining chip.

Ichigo's eyes narrowed as Aizen's face broke into a slow, shark-like smile and he clapped his hands. "Ahh, looks like you figured it out, Kurosaki Ichigo. Make any moves toward me and Ulquiorra will kill you." Suddenly a cold, sharp sword was biting into his exposed neck and he gritted his teeth and spat in the Espada's face. Another blur and the ever-sleepy Stark appeared behind him, holding sword to his back and telling Grimmjow that if the Sexta Espada so much as twitched, he would stab Ichigo from behind.

"Alright, children, you can come out now," Aizen said. The man jerked a rope that Ichigo hadn't noticed before and to his horror three humans tumbled out of an open and waiting garganta. He gave a strangled cry as Mizuiro, Keigo and Tatsuki stumbled to the ground, tied together by the rope that was wrapped around their waists. Ichigo shook his head, as if trying to wake himself up from a bad dream. He couldn't believe this.

The three humans looked up at him then and he tried to take a step back, wincing as Stark's sword cut into his back. Suddenly feeling slightly panicky (normally he wouldn't panic, but his friends weren't usually completely defenseless and powerless humans!) he tried to get away from Stark and Ulquiorra. He succeeded and grabbed his sword, the wrappings falling away. Without really thinking, he tried to charge at Aizen, letting out an angry yell.

His attack was cut short as Ulquiorra sonido-ed in front of him and he stopped in his tracks, eyes wide. He looked down and saw the Cuarto Espada's sword sticking out of his abdomen. The Espada backed away, leaving his sword stuck in Ichigo's stomach as blood soaked his haori and hakama. Behind him, he could hear Grimmjow's breath hitch as if he were listening on the other side of a water bed. Ichigo stumbled a bit, his vision getting hazy, but managed to pull the sword out of himself without cutting himself up further. He groaned and spat blood before turning his molten gaze upon Aizen. He didn't want his human friends to see him this way, all weak and bloody.

"What do you want?" He asked raggedly, hating how his voice hitched as a wave of pain hit him. He winced as he remembered that bad feeling he'd had the last two days. His eyes blazed as he waited for Aizen's answer.

"I want something in exchange for these three," he said smoothly, giving Ichigo a particular look. "I think you know what it is I want."

The two made eye-contact for a brief moment before Ichigo turned away. He looked at Grimmjow, who was struggling against Ulquiorra and Stark.

"Grimm," Ichigo whimpered softly. He knew Aizen wanted to trade himself for his friends and he knew he would do it, too, but he didn't want to die quite yet. Grimmjow's eyes bore into his and he could see the desperation in them as the Espada struggled; whether the blue-haired bastard was desperate for a fight or desperate to help, the Substitute didn't know. Ichigo turned back to Aizen, who was waiting patiently for his answer.

"Fine. But allow me to say goodbye, at least," Ichigo said softly. His voice wasn't shaking and his face looked calmer than he felt, and for that he was thankful. No one could say he was a coward. He lifted his chin a little and stared Aizen in the eyes. The latter looked back, amused at the show the boy was putting on before nodding his head in approval. "Sure. 5 minutes."

Ichigo sighed, the breath hurting his abdomen and he stumbled over to where Stark and Ulquiorra had let Grimmjow go. Suddenly he was in Grimmjow's strong arms and even though it hurt, he reached to hug him back. The Espada could feel Ichigo trying to appear cool and calm, but he knew the boy better than most people present and knew he was anything but. Ichigo would never sell out and he could never be called a coward, but he had to admit that the thought of what Aizen could do to him was scary. Ichigo stepped back from him and Grimmjow bent down to kiss him light and short on the lips. Grimmjow leaned his forehead against Ichigo's and sighed.

"I'll find a way to save you, Ichi," the older man breathed. "I promise. Just as long as your weak-ass doesn't die first."

Ichigo allowed himself a smirk at the Espada's arrogant words before stepping away and facing his other friends. He knew that Renji and Rukia would be upset with him but they would jump at the chance to rescue him if the time came. He turned to his human friends, who were looking at him, scared.

"Keigo, what happened to Ishida, Inoue and Chad?" He asked, worried. They were supposed to be taking care of the powerless humans and he didn't understand how his friends had been captured. The poor boy, normally so buoyant and happy, always ready to glomp Ichigo, stuttered a bit at first, his eyes wide in shock at what had happened. Ichigo noticed his eyes flickering down to his wound every so often, so he drew Keigo's attention back to his face. "Keigo."

The boy took a breath and whispered, "I don't know." Nothing followed that short statement and so Ichigo just nodded, feeling tired suddenly as his strength left him. He felt abruptly like collapsing, but instead of showing such weakness, he looked his friends in the eyes, trying to tell them silently not to worry about him. He sighed and turned back to Aizen and nodded.

The Substitute allowed the ex-Shinigami to walk up to him and grab him by the back of his collar. Ichigo didn't see any reason to fight them off at this point, so he sighed and let Aizen half guide, half drag him to the garganta. He threw Ichigo in roughly and signaled his two Espada to follow. Before Ichigo could react, Ulquiorra reached out and snatched Tatsuki and dragged her screaming and kicking into the garganta just as it began to close. Ichigo shouted and struggled, angry that he had been tricked.

"Aizen, you fucking bastard! You said you'd let them go!" He shouted over and over. Aizen laughed openly at his anger and struck him across the face to shut him up. Ichigo used the hardest, coldest glare he could muster.

"Shut up, Shinigami. I'm not stupid. I am keeping this one merely for bargaining purposes. If I don't, how will I know that you won't try to escape? But now that she's here, you won't even try."

"How the hell do you know that?" Ichigo spat, angry as pain wracked his body from all the struggling.

Aizen laughed once again. "I know because I know your type, brat. You feel responsible for everyone. You'll sacrifice yourself for others. You'll live in misery in Hueco Mundo without struggle if I tell you to, since I have her," he said, gesturing toward a terrified Tatsuki. Ichigo sighed, knowing he was right. If Aizen decided to tell him that if he tried anything he'd kill Tatsuki, then Ichigo would probably sit back and allow this shit to happen to him, all to save his longest friend. But he refused to 'sit back' forever. He would just have to bide his time, and hopefully his friends would come and help him escape.

They stepped out into Las Noches and Ichigo and Tatsuki were immediately taken away to be placed in a dungeon somewhere under the castle. Sitting next to the bars, Ichigo tried to breathe evenly as he tore a piece of his haori off to wrap around his middle to staunch the blood flow. Tatsuki was looking a little shocked and scared, but otherwise didn't appear to be harmed. He had always known her to be a strong girl, so it was a little strange to see her this scared, but he completely understood. She was very new to this and had little to no idea who had just captured her or where she was. The orange-haired teen gathered his long-time friend into his arms in an uncharacteristic show of comfort.

Tatsuki allowed herself to cry once she was in the safe hold of her friend's arms. She had never been this scared in her life, and she was glad that if anyone had to endure this with her, it was Ichigo. They had grown up together and he had changed so much. Usually she comforted him, but this time it was the other way around. And the way he gave himself up for them… She was impressed. He wasn't the same child who cried every time she beat him in kendo class. He had grown up and matured. She only wished she could have witnessed that growth.

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Tatsuki groaned as her eyes fluttered open. They had to have been in that dungeon for days by now and no one had brought food or water to them. She was tired, hungry, and very thirsty, and she was sure Ichigo was worse off than her because no one had bothered to treat his wound either.

Said boy groaned and shifted, wincing as he opened his brown eyes to dull grayness of the dungeon. His breath hitched slightly as he shifted again, trying to sit up straighter. The bars bit into his back and he groaned again. He glanced over to where Tatsuki sat and felt immensely guilty for dragging her into this mess. He opened his mouth to apologize, but she must've known what he was about to say because she beat him to it.

"Don't you dare try to apologize to me again, Kurosaki Ichigo. Save your strength, I'm sure you're suffering more than I am," she sighed. He almost smirked at how much she sounded like Rukia.

She was about to crawl over to his side of the cell and feel his forehead for a temperature when the door opened for the first time since they had been taken there. Both teens squinted up at the big figure of Stark, their eyes trying to adjust to the light he let in.

"Kurosaki. Girl. You are to come with me immediately. Aizen's wishes," Stark grunted, probably annoyed at being woken up to do a task as boring as this. "Come if you want, I don't care. It's not my head on the line." With that Stark started to leave the dungeons, really not caring whether his prisoners followed him or not.

Tatsuki helped Ichigo stand up as fast as she could (even though he had at first refused any kind of help) and allowed herself to be used as a crutch as they followed Stark to Aizen's chamber.

"What do you think is going on, Ichigo?" Tatsuki whispered, looking at his face for a sign of how to react to this new development.

"I don't know… Aizen is capable of doing a lot of things. He could go so far as to turn us into Arrancar, kill us, or he could be doing this just to make us piss our pants," Ichigo shrugged his shoulder. "Honestly, I'm scared as hell." Tatsuki almost scoffed at this last statement; he looked as calm as could be.

'How does he do that?' She wondered, admiring his bravery. She was cut short in her thoughts, however, as a massive white door opened up in front of her and they were led into a small chamber. Tatsuki deposited Ichigo against a wall and looked around.

'White… Why the hell is everything so damned white around here?'

The door opened again and this time it was Aizen and Ulquiorra who stepped through, the former smiling dangerously at the weak and injured Kurosaki. He nodded to Ulquiorra.

"Chain him."

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_Author's Note_: Hope you enjoyed! Please review and don't forget about my other Bleach fics!

How am I doing? I'm trying to make Grimm more like a badass, but it's hard to tell whether or not I'm giving you what you want.

Also… Who's read the flashback manga chapters 108-105? Holy cow! Gimme a PM (so there's no spoilers on here for those who haven't) and let me know what you think!

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TG © March 2008


	13. Chapter 12

**Exposed**

By TG

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Author's Note: Well, folks… Got some semi-bad news. But first of all, I'd like to thank you for the especially nice reviews from last chapter :) They really made my day!

Okay, bad news is this: my finals are coming up on me really fast. I have 6 papers, two tests, and an oral exam to complete/study for in less than two weeks. Thus, I hope you will understand my probable lack of updates, since I normally update every other day. And then after that, I will be gone for 11 days on tour with the college's concert band, so… I'm sorry!

But there's some Ichigo torture in this chapter, so… Hope you enjoy!

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Exposed

Chapter XII

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Ichigo stared at Aizen as Ulquiorra roughly grabbed him round the collar of his already tattered gi and shoved him painfully against the wall. Chains retracted from the wall and Ulquiorra attached them to Ichigo's wrists and ankles, making his body into some sort of living 'x.' Ichigo didn't bother struggling against him because he had no strength left to struggle with. His eyes blazed with fury though as he stared the ex-Shinigami down.

"What are you going to do to me?" Ichigo asked lowly, so Tatsuki wouldn't hear. His eyes shifted toward Tatsuki and back quickly, but Aizen caught the motion and laughed at him openly.

"Don't worry, I won't hurt your friend here. As for what I'll do to _you…_ Like I said before, I know how you tick, Kurosaki. Szayel-Aporro has been watching you. This is an embarrassing predicament you're in, isn't it? Showing weakness, being defeated," Aizen spat out. "Having your little friend here is embarrassing for you, too, isn't it? Having to rely on someone for a change must be tough, kid."

Ichigo snarled at Aizen's sarcasm and avoided looking anyone in the eye. What he had said was true. It was embarrassing for him to rely on someone else and to be seen when he was this weak. It was the arrogant hero in him that recoiled from needing or asking for help. Aizen saw this and grinned, knowing he was right.

"You've annoyed us enough, brat. I think it's time you pay for it, and your friend here is going to watch."

Ichigo's eyes widened and he turned to look at Tatuski's worried face, realizing she hadn't heard a word Aizen had said. The latter chuckled at what was about to transpire and turned to face her as well.

"My dear Tatsuki, you are about to witness a momentous occasion for our side. After two years of being a pain in our asses, this brat has finally been captured. Ulquiorra is going to have a small celebration right here with Ichigo and you're going to be allowed to attend." Aizen said, smirking as she tried to work through what he had just said. Without giving her a chance to figure it out, he turned to his waiting Cuarto Espada and giving the green-eyed enemy a nod.

A white blur spread across her vision and before her mind could register what she had seen, Ichigo was gasping in pain. Ulquiorra, who had been standing next to her, was now next to Ichigo with his sword drawn as the latter writhed slightly. His gi was now falling off; it had been torn to shreds before because he needed to keep redressing his wound in order to avoid infection. With his gi off, she could see the makeshift bandages he'd used and the blood soaking through. A new red line appeared on his chest from Ulquiorra's attack.

Tatsuki tried to look away as Ulquiorra began to punch Ichigo, hating that he was helpless to defend himself, but Stark was standing behind her and forced her to keep watching her friend being beaten. She wanted to cry as she watched the green-eyed Espada punch her friend over and over, watching as Ichigo's lip busted open and his nose broke and his jaw became bruised and sore, but she couldn't allow herself that weakness. So she watched Ulquiorra as he turned from punching Ichigo's face to hitting other parts of him, to drawing patterns in the strawberry's skin with his sword. She forced herself to listen to Ichigo's cries of pain and not wimp out on him. He would need her help after this, if there even was an after. Tatsuki shuddered at the thought.

As she watched Ulquiorra rip off the blood-caked bandage around Ichigo's middle and poked around in the wound, she sincerely hoped that someone from Soul Society would come soon. She had no idea how long they'd been there or how long they would be _here_ in this chamber, but she wasn't sure she could stand being in this miserable place any longer.

Ichigo groaned in front of her and she was slightly surprised to realize that Ulquiorra was now standing next to Aizen, looking as emotionless as ever. The latter nodded at him, looking calm as always as he stared up at Ichigo, whose brown eyes were trained on him and blazing with anger and determination.

"Not done yet, Kurosaki?" Aizen asked, his eyes flashing as he walked slowly up to the boy chained to his wall.

Ichigo snorted. "I'm not giving you an inch. You say you know my type; then you should know that already."

Aizen smiled dangerously and clapped his hands together. "Ulquiorra, Stark, come," he said as he turned and walked out of the chamber, sliding the locks into place as silence settled over Ichigo and Tatsuki. She caught his eye and walked over to where he was chained.

"Ichigo, are you okay?" She asked, taking hold of his face and turning it this way and that to observe the damage done. "Of course you're not okay."

Her fingers ran over the bruises forming slowly on his defined cheekbones, ignoring as he tried to flinch away from her touch.

'It probably hurts just to be touched,' she thought, slightly amused as she lightly poked his nose, which appeared to be broken. Ichigo grunted then and she quickly offered an apology. Tatsuki backed away from him and sat down on the floor next to him, sighing.

"Think someone will come?"

"I don't know, but even if they don't we'll find a way out," he said, the determination spilling from his hardened voice giving Tatsuki new confidence. She smiled and nodded, leaning back against the wall to try her hand at sleep.

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Grimmjow groaned; he was soooo frustrated with the Shinigami. Immediately after Aizen and his gang had left, Yamamoto had called a meeting with all the captains and vice-captains, and to everyone's surprise, Grimmjow had been allowed to be there as well. The meeting had consisted of a discussion of why it was that Ichigo, of all the other people in Seireitei, had been the one to be traded and what to do about it. Grimmjow was able to tell them that Ichigo's Vaizard abilities was what Aizen had been after; the man wanted to have a Vaizard experiment on for a while now but the only one he or his men could keep in regular contact with was Ichigo since he worked with the Shinigami instead of against them, like the other Vaizards. On finding this out, the captains and vice-captains talked over how best to rescue Ichigo from Aizen's clutches.

It had been three days now since Ichigo had been taken and no verdict had been reached yet. Grimmjow's hands clenched into fists just thinking about what hadn't been done. No rescue missions, no new ideas. Sure, everyone seemed concerned enough. Ichigo was a well-liked kid all around. Grimmjow was a man of action; he was just itching to fight (his reason, of course, was purely the enjoyment of fighting and had nothing to do with Ichigo being there…or so he would say). However, no one really knew what to do; it had been a shock to see Aizen and his two lackeys standing there on their turf.

There was a knock on the door of the room he had been using the past week and he muttered a low 'get your ass in.' He looked up to see Rukia and Renji enter, looking upset. He snorted and motioned for them to sit on the futon that was in his room.

"What's going on now?" He asked sarcastically, not bothering to even look at them, deeming them unworthy of his attention.

"We're just concerned is all," Rukia muttered. "Ichigo might be one of the toughest people I know, but I'm still worried."

Grimmjow nodded and sighed, feeling slightly sorry for the two Shinigami in front of him. He was Ichigo's lover, sure, but these two were his best friends and they both were upset about his absence as well. He understood what they were feeling (which was a strange notion for Grimmjow), so he said, "I think the three of us should do something about it then. It's obvious Soul Society's a bunch of fuckin' shitfaced cowards who won't do a thing about it, so it's up to us." He grinned slightly at the shocked look on their faces; perhaps they were surprised since he really hadn't been himself for the past three days. Whatever the reason, he reveled in their alarm.

"Think about it. Aizen came to Soul Society for a reason, and that reason, knowing him, was probably to disorient you. Then he took away someone who was probably the basis of your morale and your strongest fighter. He had reasons other than the fact that Ichi was a Vaizard. He knew what he was doing. His goal was accomplished; Soul Society's been runnin' around like a fuckin' chicken with its head cut off and stuck up its ass. Now do you fuckers understand why we gotta do somethin' about this? No one else will!" Grimmjow said, leering.

"Yes. I understand," Rukia said quietly, ignoring Renji's incredulous stare at her agreement. "You know the way around Las Noches better than anyone. Besides, you're an important person to Ichigo. We should learn to trust you."

Grimmjow smirked, because he really couldn't allow himself the weakness that would be a smile. He wouldn't let them know how glad he was that they had agreed to help him get back the orange-haired kid that he had become so fond of; it would ruin his image. Instead, he sat up with them through the wee hours of the morning coming up with different rescue missions.

They had a stubborn, orange-haired, determined, heroic, sweet, asshole to save.

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Tatsuki had been put in charge of changing Ichigo's bandages now that he couldn't do it for himself; he was still chained to the wall. He had asked her a few hours ago not to bother with it and she could see why he would ask it. His wrists were becoming rubbed raw because most of his weight was on his wrists as his feet weren't touching the ground. He had many other injuries to treat than just the original sword wound, so she understood why he asked her to just forget about it. However, being free to move around, she felt somewhat responsible for making sure he didn't get infected. So every hour or so she would clean his wounds as best she could with what little cloth was left of his discarded gi. Every time she went to touch him, even in his half-conscious state, he would flinch away from her for the briefest second before leaning into her soft touch. She felt sorry for him even though she tried not to. He hated pity.

It was just about time for her to check him over again when the door opened, revealing a different Espada this time, someone she didn't know the name of. Ichigo must have, though, because he glanced up (the sound of the door banging opened had caught his attention and brought him out of his half-awake state) and exclaimed, "Szayel-Aporro! What are you doing here?"

The strange Espada smiled evilly and replied, "I'm here because I know the human body better than other Espada. I suppose Aizen chose me to 'take care of you' because I can do it subtly. I guess you can say I'm the Kurotsuchi of the Espada." This must've meant something to Ichigo because Tatsuki saw his eyes widen in surprise.

"Who are you?" Tatsuki asked, unable to keep the question to herself any longer. The weirdo with pink hair glanced over at her and opted to ignore her, choosing instead to move toward Ichigo. The orange-haired teen sensed what was about to happen and tensed for another round.

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Not three hours later, Grimmjow, Rukia and Renji had come up with a rescue plan… Well, it was more like they had discarded all other plans and decided to just go into Hueco Mundo and Las Noches blindly, hoping Grimmjow knew the way and wasn't leading them false. They had decided to get some sleep before acting because Grimmjow had warned them that they may have to fight to get out, which they could've figured on their own.

Now the three friends were in Hueco Mundo, running toward the impossibly huge castle that held the one person all three of them had in common and his childhood friend. They had taken precautions beforehand that allowed Keigo and Mizuiro, as well as Inoue, Chad and Ishida, who were at Urahara's being healed from the Espada attack, to stay in Soul Society for safety. So all five of Ichigo's friends were waiting patiently for their friend to come back; there was no way that Rukia, Renji and Grimmjow could disappoint them by not coming back.

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Author's Note: Yes, I understand Grimm is OOC. And yes, there _is_ a reason for it. I'm getting tired of explaining the reason, because I'm pretty sure I've already mentioned that this fic is slightly AU and set two years in the future. People don't stay the same; they change as experiences and relationships shape them. This is why Grimm and Ichi are slightly OOC.

Also, the torture bit wasn't my original idea. I borrowed it from another author (forgot who) and twisted it around, used different characters and situations, and so on.

Also times two… I wanted Tatsuki to be strong and not be like Inoue. I can't stand how Inoue's always the damsel in distress and shit. Can't _stand_ her. So I wanted to Tatsuki to be the crutch Ichigo can lean on.

Please check out my other Bleach fic, Neglect, and keep an eye open for my new one coming out this weekend sometime (it's titleless so far).

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TG © March 2008


	14. Chapter 13

**Exposed**

By TG

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_Author's Note:_ Well… The rescue is upon us!

I finally got a chance to update... Been wanting to all week but at the same time, since there's only four chapters left, I don't really want it to end. However, I highly doubt that it will be all uploaded before I head off on my band tour to Boston/NYC… So you all will probably have to deal with no updates from me between May 12 and May 21. Sorry. However, I bet there will be a lot of experiences to be had in NYC and Boston that I can turn into GrimmIchi fics. In fact, I have a prom fic planned... I won't bore you about it now because my a/n is getting ridiculously long…

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Exposed

Chapter XIII

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Rukia fought off what seemed like her bazillionth Hollow just as another one popped up from the sand. She sighed and sat down and let Grimmjow take care of it with a Bala blast. She and Renji were pooped out and they hadn't even reached Las Noches yet.

Grimmjow smoothed imaginary wrinkles in his half-jacket and dusted off his shoulders before coming to stand in front of them wearing his typical mad grin. It had been way too long since he'd been allowed to kill lower-class Hollows; he'd forgotten how much of a breeze and how relaxing it was. His sadistic smile fading, he stretched his back, hearing the satisfying pops of his spine, and motioned to keep on going. The Shinigami nodded and they shunpo-ed/sonido-ed off toward the palace.

'The thing is so damn huge it doesn't even look like we're moving toward it,' Rukia thought. They had been going all night and all day so far and even though they were tired, the worry for what might be happening to Ichigo kept them going. Normally Ichigo would be a fighter in this situation, Rukia knew, but he had volunteered to give himself up, and with one of his human friends with him he was liable to do anything to keep her safe. Rukia bit her lip and looked at Renji, who was running right beside her. She couldn't imagine how Grimmjow was feeling.

Renji stole a look at the blue-haired Espada and almost regretted it. He had never seen this particular face on the taller man before; it was like Grimmjow was in deep thought about something that was rather painful to think about, but he, for some reason, _needed_ to keep thinking about it despite the pain it caused.

Renji almost snickered at the idea of thinking causing the Espada pain, but managed to reign in his impulse. Grimmjow caught his eye and growled, telling him silently to 'shut the fuck up or become forcefully acquainted with Pantera.' Renji frowned and looked away.

As the three rushed toward the palace that was finally starting to look bigger and more intimidating on the horizon, Grimmjow realized he was glad that Renji had insisted that just the three of them go. He was uncomfortable enough showing emotion to his lover of two years, so he was sure as hell not going to be okay with showing his worry to any of said lover's friends; for some reason he felt he could trust the two Shinigami at his side better than Ichigo's other friends. Perhaps that was because they were the two closest to Ichigo and if the boy trusted them, so could he.

Well, whatever the reason for his being able to trust them, he was sure glad that Rukia and Renji could be there to help him out. Not that he would EVER admit that. To anyone. _Ever._

Grimmjow felt that insane grin come back to his face as they came upon Las Noches; finally, the real action could begin. Now they only needed to find a way in; he hoped those fools had been hiding their reiatsus like he had been since he'd entered Hueco Mundo. If they had, they might be able to get into the fortress without being noticed too quickly. It was the most he could hope for; he knew Aizen would notice soon enough, but he couldn't complain if it meant a good fight.

Looking over his shoulder at the two Shinigami following him, he smirked at them and motioned for them to follow. Ichigo had managed to change Grimmjow over the two years they'd been seeing each other. In the beginning, Grimmjow had been totally vicious, taking whatever he wanted, plundering what he labeled as his even when Ichigo didn't want it. But the more time the Espada spent in the strawberry's presence, the more Ichigo mellowed him out. That, of course, didn't mean that Grimmjow or Ichigo had lost their edges and conflict-loving personalities; the two still loved to fight, especially with each other. They just hadn't gotten the chance to be close like that since Grimmjow had come to the material world. So much craziness had happened. The thought made Grimmjow frown as he tried to work out where best to enter Las Noches.

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Some time later, Ichigo grunted as he tried to wiggle his hands out of the chains. Tatsuki stood in front of him on the off chance that he actually got loose so she could catch him, because his feet weren't touching the ground (they, too, are in chains). He gave up after a few minutes later because his hands were just too large to slip through the shackles. Below him Tatsuki shook her head; watching Ichigo struggle to dislocate his thumbs was almost amusing for her, only she hoped that if he did it, he wouldn't crush her when he fell on her. The carrot top had tried everything from letting loose a burst of reiatsu to trying to dislocate his thumbs and so far nothing had worked. He was just thankful that, for whatever reason, the bad guys had left him alone. He snorted at the thought.

Surely they would be back again soon. He was sure he'd had every Espada in there to take a whack at him by then; the most frequent of his visitors being Stark, Ulquiorra, Szayel, Noitra, Yammy… He'd learned their names by now. He wasn't sure what was going on outside his little torture chamber, but he was thankful for the distraction as it allowed him to gather up strength so that when or if he broke away, he would be able to at least shunpo away with Tatsuki.

Finally able to summon enough inner calm, he managed to dislocate his thumb, though it was rather painful, and slip his left hand from its confinement. He examined it for a few moments and cringed when he saw the raw reddish-pink color of his skin and the dried and fresh blood flowing over his hand. With help from his left hand he managed to do the same to his right and fell forward on top of Tatsuki, who tried her hardest to catch him but failed rather miserably. He would have laughed if the situation hadn't been so dire; he had finally got his wrists free! Now all that was left were his feet, which would prove to be a much bigger obstacle. There was really only one way to do that and he was rather reluctant…

Sinking inside himself, he called for his Hollow, nicknamed Shiro, who had been strangely silent since the whole ordeal had begun.

'Shiro.'

'Yes, King?' Hichigo replied snidely.

'I need to make a deal with you. I desperately need to get out of these chains, otherwise Aizen will find me and surely he would kill me.' Seeing the bloodlust in Shiro's eyes, he sternly reminded the Hollow that if he died, so would Shiro. Shiro seemed to take a moment to register this before nodding.

'I assume you want your position back when I'm done, King?'

'Of course. If you don't agree to this, I'll just have to beat you again.'

Frowning, Shiro took a few moments to think this over. He wasn't afraid of a fight; however, his body really hurt, mirroring Ichigo's pains, and he decided that now wouldn't be the ideal time to retake what he thought was rightfully his, so he agreed. Ichigo allowed himself to sink further down as Shiro came to the surface and smashed the shackles using the brute strength of a Hollow. After a sufficient amount of time, Ichigo forced his way to the surface and broke free, surveying his Hollow's handiwork.

Iron shackles in pieces on the floor. Perfect.

Ichigo looked up at Tatsuki and grinned at her, showing excitement that he hadn't allowed himself to feel in case this hadn't worked. She stared at him for a moment before he gave her a pointed look that said 'I'll explain everything later,' so she nodded and tried the door to find it unlocked. The two shared a look of confusion and suspicion before easing the door open and glancing down the white hallway.

Nothing.

Ichigo raised an eyebrow and slipped out the door. He closed his eyes to try to remember which way they had turned to come toward the chamber when they had first gotten there and decided on going left down the hallway. He looked back at Tatsuki to grab her hand and began to shunpo away from the chamber they had been locked in for God knows how long.

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About twenty minutes later Ichigo was panting for breath, standing with Tatsuki in yet another white hallway. He had no idea where the fuck he was going and was getting tired of white. He sighed and ran a hand through his orange locks before turning to look at the spiky-haired girl.

"Honey, couldn't you have just stopped and asked for directions?" Tatsuki quipped. Ichigo grinned despite the rather desperate situation and started walking, turning the corner and abruptly running into a solid mass of _something_.

'Damn,' Ichigo thought as he rubbed his sore ass. He looked up to see what had knocked him down and his mouth dropped open. "Grimmjow!"

Grimmjow's mouth was also hanging open and he was staring at Ichigo like he was an alien. Which he very well could have been; the strawberry had no idea what he looked like since there seemed to be no mirrors or windows in this God forsaken place. "Ichigo? How the fuck did you get out?! God damn, you look terrible. How could you let yourself be beaten up like that, you weak-ass pansy?"

Ichigo grinned and said, "Shut the hell up, fucktard. At least I got out." Renji and Rukia stared at him from behind Grimmjow and Ichigo waved at them, suddenly feeling exhausted. "Hey, it's nice running into you, but don't you think we should get going? Pretty sure they'll notice shit's not right soon enough."

The Shinigami closed their mouths, both thinking that this was the luckiest rescue they'd ever conducted, and Renji grabbed Tatsuki in order to shunpo the hell out of there. Rukia followed him. Ichigo was about to take off as well when Grimmjow stopped him.

"Ichi, you look terrible as fuck."

"Gee, thanks Grimm," Ichigo replied sarcastically. "Being chained up here for however many days can do that to you. Besides, I didn't get a chance to make myself presentable before I escaped."

Grimmjow frowned at him, reminded that Ichigo had been hurt here; the expanse of skin showing because of the absence of his gi was proof enough of that. The Espada sighed and offered Ichigo a hand since the boy looked so tired. Ichigo just stared at him a moment before taking the offered help and allowing himself to be swung up piggy-back style and sonido-ed away. He was stiff against Grimmjow's back for the first few strides but slowly began to relax against him, gingerly wrapping his aching arms around his neck and whispering a soft 'thank you' in his ear. Grimmjow grinned. He secretly loved it when Ichigo showed his softer side – the side that was reserved just for him.

Soon they were out of Las Noches and he could see Rukia and Renji up ahead, fighting off a few minor Hollows. A sound off to the side diverted his attention and he was only mildly surprised to find Ulquiorra sonido-ing along side him. He dropped Ichigo on his ass as Ulquiorra struck out at him and the strawberry groaned as he rolled to a stop, barely able to find the strength to stand up as his wounds opened and began to bleed all over again. Ulquiorra turned back and went for Ichigo, but the kid pulled out Zangetsu and managed to block Ulquiorra's weaponless attack. Ichigo groaned again at the strain put on his sword and his efforts to keep the green-eyed Espada at bay. Out of the corner of his eye he saw Rukia and Tatsuki go through the gate and he sighed in relief.

Grimmjow growled and jumped at Ulquiorra from behind to distract him and to allow Ichigo to recover. Ulquiorra simply threw him off, however, and refocused on the Substitute, grabbing the teen around the throat and effortlessly tossing him away. Ichigo coughed and tried to stand but let himself fall back. He brought Zangetsu up over his heart to protect himself as Ulquiorra appeared in front of him. Before he knew it, though, Grimmjow grabbed the Cuarto Espada around the waist and hurled him off of his lover.

Ulquiorra twisted in midair to land on his feet and pushed off the ground, trying to attack Grimmjow in the air. Ichigo tried to get up to run to where Rukia and Renji were coming toward him, but he ended up half crawling and half limping as fast as he could, trying to get away from the dogfight in the air. The two Shinigami grabbed him by sash of his hakama and helped tug him toward the gate that Renji had opened earlier. He glanced back at Grimmjow as if asking permission to leave. He really wanted to stay and help his lover fight off Ulquiorra and take revenge for all the pain the emotionless Espada had caused him, but he was injured, exhausted, and would only get in the way.

Grimmjow glanced over at him and met his eyes then, and Ichigo could see the worry in them, even when he knew his lover would never admit it. He watched Grimmjow block a Cero with his hand as he turned and shouted, "Go!"

That was the only encouragement Renji needed as he hefted Ichigo up onto his back and jumped through the gate after Rukia. Ichigo felt his throat tightening as he fought the urge to cry 'no!' He didn't really understand the need to go back and make sure his lover was alright; Grimmjow could always take care of himself. He was just glad that Rukia had Tatsuki and that she was alright.

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In Soul Society, a small party of Shinigami and humans were awaiting the return of their comrades. They had been waiting less than a day (ever since Rukia, Renji and Grimmjow left) but their nerves, especially those of Keigo and Mizuiro, were so frazzled that it felt much longer. When the gate they had been gathered around began to open and Rukia and Tatsuki stepped out, relatively unharmed, a collective breath was released. The Fourth Division gathered around her to heal their wounds, though they were minor injuries. There was some rejoicing, but mostly they were waiting to make sure Ichigo, Renji and Grimmjow got back okay.

After fifteen minutes, Ichigo's friends were beginning to get antsy and even more nervous.

"I thought he was right behind you?" Mizuiro whispered to Tatsuki.

"No, while I was leaving he and Grimmjow were being attacked by an Espada. I'm sure they're okay though, no worries right?" The three friends looked at each other, their worry and anxiety increasing every minute that their childhood friend wasn't appearing.

Five more minutes passed in silence and then the gate opened once more. The Shinigami captains and vice-captains tensed, ready to defend against Hollows or Espada in case they came through instead of their friends. However, Renji came staggering through instead, with Ichigo stumbling behind him. A very hurt, beat up, and bleeding Ichigo. The strawberry managed to get through the gate before falling to his knees, too tired to keep going any further. Ichigo groaned and allowed himself to fall the rest of the way to the ground as he passed out.

Everyone was silent for a moment and then Inoue and the Fourth rushed forward to take care of Ichigo and Renji's injuries. Inoue had Ichigo laying on his back on the ground and was just beginning to heal him when the gate opened a third time and Grimmjow literally fell through it, unable to stand further. Ichigo opened his eyes, relieved to see his lover alive and well, and, seeing that all the other experienced healers were busy, asked Inoue to heal Grimmjow instead.

"No, Kurosaki-kun, I couldn't –"

"Inoue, please."

Inoue looked into Ichigo's brown eyes for a long moment before nodding and moving to Grimmjow to start her healing on him. Ichigo sighed and closed his eyes, laying there on the ground of Seireitei, surrounded by safety and all of his friends and feeling safe for the first time in days.

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_Author's Note:_ Holy shit, this was the longest chapter of the whole story so far! Hope you enjoyed! I wasn't sure if I liked it or not, so let me know your thoughts! Also, check out my other Bleach stories :)

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TG © March 2008


	15. Chapter 14

**Exposed**

By TG

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_Author's Note:_ Once again, I'm wondering why it's so hard to review when you alert? Not that I'm blaming you guys or anything, it's an honest question. If you guys know the answer, let me know, cuz I'm not the only author on here wondering this :)

Probably not going to finish this before I leave, but I will try. If I have the time, I'm going to write up a new one-shot. I had a dream about how Ichigo was at his senior prom and was waiting for Grimmjow but he wasn't there… It's kind of fuzzy after that but it's going to be nice and fluffy, I think…

**UPDATED!!!!! This chapter used to contain a lemon, but I took it down. I feel more comfortable having my explicit stuff on LJ, so that's where it is. The link to my LJ will be in my profile shortly.**

I apologize for the suckiness of this chapter. It was difficult to write out the explicit part, but leave just enough in to give the reader an idea of what was happening, so I'm sure it probably sucks. But like I said, original version on LJ, so if you want something of better quality, go there :)

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Chapter XIV

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Grimmjow stood in the door way for a while, simply gazing down at the unconscious and prone body laying on the futon in the center of the room. He was torn between turning around and walking out like he had never been there, or going to the orange-haired teenager and running his fingers though that spiky, soft hair. After a short pause, his legs took him further into the room to stand right beside the injured figure without really thinking.

He sat down with a soft thump on the hardwood floor and absentmindedly sank his long fingers into Ichigo's orange locks, running them through his soft hair and thinking. He was kind of –frightened? No, surprised at the strength of his feelings. He remembered back to the beginning of his 'relationship' with Ichigo and how all that had existed for him was the need to hear the boy's pained cries, the need to taste his blood and the intense lust for the kid's body. He wondered over how all of that had changed over the two years he had been visiting Ichigo. Sure he was still rough –

'Ichi likes it rough,' he thought with a childish snicker.

-but his feelings had changed; that need to inflict pain and taking joy in it was replaced by the need to see Ichigo writhing under him and moaning, the need to taste Ichigo's blood replaced by the need to taste_ Ichigo_. He felt the strange urge to protect him from others, like Ulquiorra, because Ichigo was _his_ pray, damnit, in more ways than one now.

The Espada sighed softly and allowed his fingers to slowly trail from the kid's hair across his features; the prominent cheekbones, his lips, nose, eyebrows, his strong jaw. Vaguely he wondered what he was doing here, showing affection like this. Hollows were not supposed to be able to feel the things that Ichigo made him feel when they were together, and he wasn't sure whether he was thankful or not for those feelings. His thumb trailed slowly across his lover's lips and he sighed again. He wasn't sure whether or not he wanted to put a name to this feeling. The thought of it maybe being love scared him.

'Ichigo..'

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Ichigo felt himself slowly fall back from the haze he had been in for the last couple of days. He tried to fight it, knowing that he was beginning to regain consciousness and he wasn't sure he wanted to. As the rays of morning sunlight hit his face he became aware of several things he hadn't yet noticed in his half-conscious state: he was laying on his back on a squashy futon, there were fingers tracing his cheeks, nose and lips in sweet but rough movements, and he was in pain. The carrot-top groaned and shifted slightly, trying to find a more comfortable spot to lie but not succeeding. His back arched slightly as he became unpleasantly aware of every single welt and cut on his back and he gasped.

His warm brown eyes opened, and the pain and sunlight burning through his eyelids shocking him into full awareness. He looked around wildly, wondering where he was and how he had gotten there, and was about to sit up when a long, bony hand shoved on his shoulder, forcing him to lay back down. Something passed through Grimmjow's cerulean eyes as Ichigo winced as his back rubbed across the futon, but whatever it was it had passed before Ichigo had time to further analyze it.

"What the fuck was that for?" Ichigo asked angrily, ignoring the twinge in his side, presumably from the stab wound, as he tried to sit up again. Grimmjow growled at him but Ichigo ignored that too and sat up fully, muttering a small 'damn' at the effort it took. The other man snorted at the orange-haired teenager's pain.

"You're hurt, you fucktard. What're you tryin' to do, gettin' up like that? Tch."

Ichigo grinned at Grimmjow and leaned in to kiss him chastely on the lips, mostly just to shut him up. Grimmjow raised an eyebrow as the teen tried to pull away and fisted a hand in the orange locks to keep him close as Grimmjow met his lips again in a fiery kiss. Ichigo's mouth fell open as he gasped and the Espada took full advantage, wrapping his tongue around the teen's and stroking. Ichigo's hands immediately buried themselves in blue locks as Grimmjow tilted his head for better access.

Grimmjow's long hands wandered over Ichigo's bare torso, passing over the healing cuts and bruises and enjoying every hiss and gasp this elicited from the teenager. The Espada grinned as his lips left Ichigo's, attaching themselves to the kid's pulse, biting hard enough to draw blood then soothing it with his talented, pink tongue. The teen's back arched off the futon as he cried out softly, grabbing onto Grimmjow's shoulders as the assault on his neck continued. The blue-haired man smirked slightly as the air filled with Ichigo's moans as the Espada licked down his neck to cover the teen's chest in small, dark marks of ownership.

"What," Ichigo panted as his head fell back. "I thought I was –gasp –too injured."

His blunt nails dug into Grimmjow's back, creating angry red welts as the older man began to ravish him. God, how Grimmjow loved the sounds Ichigo made for him.

"That was before you kissed me, dumbshit."

Ichigo smirked and pulled the Espada in for another tangle of tongues, moaning as Grimmjow pulled back a bit to bite and suck on his lower lip. Grimmjow's hand busied itself trying to get Ichigo's hakama off as well as his own. The teenager laughed and pushed Grimmjow's jacket off over his shoulders, sighing in relief as the cool air caressed him when Grimmjow finally managed to wiggle him out of his pants.

The carrot-top swallowed a moan as the blue-haired man practically slithered down his body, dipping his wet tongue in his navel. Hands instantly flew up to bury themselves in Grimmjow's hair as the god-like appendage swirled around his prominent hip bone and trailed lower.

Ichigo was totally lost, his eyes rolling back into his head as he muttered a string of words too quiet for Grimmjow to hear.

Ichigo watched Grimmjow as he 'cleaned up;' he looked just a cat licking up some cream. Ichigo cracked a grin.

Suddenly the air was filled with Grimmjow's laughter and Ichigo raised a brow. "Gee, that was fast, Ichi," the Espada said, tracing circles around a hip bone. Ichigo blushed in anger and embarrassment and opened his mouth to retort that it had been _two fucking months_ since he'd been laid, but before he could, he felt Grimmjow probing his entrance. He raised the other eyebrow.

"No lube, Ichi. Deal with it," Grimmjow said, smirking.

"Grimm, hurry the fuck up, shithead!" Ichigo grunted, clawing Grimmjow's back. The Espada just smirked at him and began to fuck him.

Grimmjow collapsed and half laid on the teenager and the two lay there, panting and flushed. The door to their right opened and Urahara stepped through. Ichigo squawked unceremoniously and grabbed the blanket to cover himself up; Grimmjow was on his own. The blonde man laughed openly at Ichigo's furiously blushing face.

"Good to see you're …up…now, Kurosaki," Urahara said, hiding his smirk behind his fan. "I just came to tell Grimmjow that dinner was ready, but since you're awake now -and probably unable to move around- I'll have Rukia bring you some in a few minutes." As soon as he appeared, the man was gone again, the door clicking shut.

Ichigo lay there for a moment longer, wallowing in his own embarrassment and slightly angry that he didn't get to enjoy coming down from his sex high before elbowing Grimmjow in the side. "Grimm, get up you fucker. It's supper time and Rukia's coming in a few minutes. At least let _me_ get dressed!" Grimmjow just grunted and rolled over and off of Ichigo. The younger man rolled his eyes and turned away to dress, hiding his smile. He threw Grimmjow's clothes to him and kicked him in the side to get him up.

Not ten seconds after Grimmjow had finished tying his sash the door opened and Rukia came in, carrying two bowls of rice and two bowls of miso soup. Ichigo took them from her with a thankful smile. She smiled tentatively back and left the lovers to their own devices. Ichigo set the food down on a low table in the corner and immediately began to shovel the rice into his mouth. Grimmjow watched and felt a stab of something akin to pity; the reality of what had happened to Ichigo just settling in. The teenager probably hadn't eaten for several days, judging from the way he ate now. The Espada sighed, wondering where this fit of _niceness_ came from as he dumped half the rice in his bowl into Ichigo's and nearly wanted to laugh at the look on the kid's face.

"Eat it, you need it more than me," he said simply, looking away out the window so he wouldn't have to see the smile that he knew would grace his lover's face.

"Thank you," Ichigo mumbled. The two ate the rest of their meal in silence.

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As Grimmjow gathered up Ichigo's empty bowls, he said, "Ichi, I'm going to have the woman come in here and heal you the rest of the way. You were so fuckin' stupid, askin' her to heal me instead. Damn."

Ichigo smiled softly at the older man, knowing that this was some backwards way of saying that he had been worried about him. Ichigo made no comment, knowing that Grimmjow would realize he understood the meaning behind the words and no other words were necessary.

Grimmjow left with the bowls, a small, soft smirk on his face and five minutes later Inoue walked through the door. She looked nervous, twisting her hands in her skirt. Ichigo just smiled at her and lay back down on his futon so she could get to work.

"Thanks, Inoue, for doing this. And thanks for healing Grimm," he muttered as the yellow aura began to glow over him. He looked into her gray eyes and she nodded. Satisfied, he closed his eyes and drifted off to sleep, allowing his friend to heal his pains, embarrassment of having her see the marks Grimmjow left on his body waning with every slow, deep breath he took.

Inoue allowed a small smile as she watched his facial features relax into the sleep that he really needed. She felt sorry for him for what he had gone though, but it was not pity she was feeling. She thought back to a few days ago when the five of them had just gotten back and had just been brought to Urahara's for rest. They had all sat down and heard the stories from Renji, Rukia, Grimmjow and Tatsuki, curious to find out how they had broken in and escaped.

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-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_Flashback-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_

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"_Why don't you start at the beginning, Tatsuki!" Inoue suggested gently, knowing that her friend was confused and scared after what had happened. "It's okay if you don't know their names or anything too, because we most likely do since we went to Hueco Mundo once."_

_Tatsuki smiled weakly at her friend's reassurance and cleared her throat, uncomfortable with being the center of attention. She made eye contact with Mizuiro and Keigo, who had also be brought back to Urahara's for the explanation since they had been waiting for Ichigo's return like the rest of them had. _

"_Well, we were brought into that castle thing-"_

"_Las Noches," Renji supplied._

"_-Yes, that. Anyway, the guy with brown hair and glasses, I think he's Aizen? He brought us to a dungeon for a while, and then we were transferred to a chamber room, I think… And then he had Ichigo chained and… Well… Hurt Ichigo. In the beginning they came in often, but a few days before we escaped they stopped coming and Ichigo was able to save up his strength in order to break the chains so we could run. No one was even guarding us."_

"_Hm… Sounds to me that it was a little too easy," Urahara said thoughtfully, his fan coming up to hide the lower half of his face so his thoughts would remain hidden as well. "In fact, I think maybe we should contact Soul Society as soon as Kurosaki is awake so we can warn them against a possible attack. Anyway, can you tell me how you escaped?"_

"_Um… Well like I said, they didn't come for a few days or something, it's hard to tell time there, so Ichigo was able to store up some strength and he was able to dislocate his thumbs and _something _happened and then the shackles on his feet broke and we were out. We ran into Rukia and Renji and Grimmjow in the hallway and escaped."_

_Rukia nodded in agreement and Urahara asked, "How did Kurosaki and Grimmjow become injured?"_

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-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_End Flashback-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_

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Grimmjow had given a narrative of the fight with Ulquiorra after that and Inoue hadn't really been that shocked that Ulquiorra had been the one to injure them; she had always been wary of him when she was held captive in Las Noches. No, the part that had surprised her the most was that it seemed like Ichigo and Tatsuki, as well as the rest, had been 'let out.'

Inoue continued to watch Ichigo sleep as she healed him, not noticing Grimmjow's lean figure propped up against the doorjamb, watching his lover as he slept.

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Author's Note: Welp, this one's done. I know the smut wasn't as sensual as Neglect was, but this was actually my first attempt at smut, so I hope you like it :)

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TG © March 2008


	16. Chapter 15

**Exposed**

By TG

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_Author's Note:_ Originally I ended the fic at the last chapter, but since I hadn't reached my goal of 30,000 words, I had to keep going. So here we go!

Also, please read this! This chapter takes place a couple of months _after_ the previous chapter. To answer your questions about why I did this, simply because nothing goes on in those couple of months except recovery and normal life. It would bore you to read, just as much as it would bore me to write.

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Exposed

Chapter XV

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The very next day after Ichigo had woken up after his confinement in Las Noches, he and his friends had gone back to school, explaining that they had all caught food poisoning from something they had eaten. Now, a few months later they were back to the usual grind, attending class, taking notes, fighting the random Hollow that popped up every so often. It would have been life as usual if they weren't using their weekends to train in Soul Society for the upcoming battle against Aizen. Every single weekend since Ichigo had healed, he, Inoue, Ishida, Chad, Grimmjow, Rukia, Renji (who had decided to stay in the material world as a transfer student), and even Yoruichi went through the gate to Seireitei and had been training with various unseated Shinigami, vice-captains, and even captains.

Just as Urahara predicted, things would be coming to an end in a few days' time. Yamamoto had held a conference for all those involved in the war and had explained that they were to prepare for departure within the week. They had further sorted out who would be staying to protect Soul Society and the material world, and who would be doing the actual attacking. Ichigo had naturally volunteered himself to go to Hueco Mundo and much to the protesting of his friends, told Yamamoto that it would perhaps be best if Inoue and Chad and maybe even Ishida would stay behind for protection. The sou-taichou had agreed to this and the matter was settled.

Inoue, Chad and Ishida had been allowed to stay up until the 6th night, the night before the rest departed for the attack, in order to say goodbye to their friends; but now it was nearing midnight and their friends stood gathered around the gate, saying their last goodbyes as the three humans were shooed out of Soul Society.

Inoue smiled and hugged Ichigo (who ignored Grimmjow's possessive growl), telling him to be careful before turning and leaving. Urahara had made an amazing invention in the last few months; they were like walkie-talkies, only they worked through dimensions. Inoue, Ishida and Chad would be able to keep in touch with Ichigo and company throughout their journey and would be able to inform Tatsuki, Mizuiro and Keigo about the goings-on in Hueco Mundo. That way everyone was happy and reinforcements could be called in almost instantly if needed.

'That and Urahara was just curious, the bastard,' Ichigo had thought, an orange eyebrow twitching violently at the thought of the freaky blonde.

The carrot-top sighed as he watched his friends walk through the gate, jumping as he felt a heavy hand fall on his shoulder. He didn't need to look behind him to know that it was Grimmjow. The orange-haired teen leaned back into the warm chest, reveling in the feeling of Grimmjow's warm arms wrapping around him. He didn't care that he was showing a moment of weakness; he had already admitted the 'l' word out loud so he was pretty sure he couldn't do anything more to damage his tough-guy image. To his surprise he felt Grimmjow's chin come to rest on the top of his head and heard the man sigh. Ichigo fought the urge to turn in his arms and just hold him.

'Fuck, I'm going soft,' Ichigo thought in irritation, unable to bring himself to be fully angry while he was still warm in his lover's arms.

"Ichi," Grimmjow whispered and Ichigo shuddered as he felt the soft breath ruffle his hair, bringing him out of his reverie. "Don't do anything stupid tomorrow, retard."

Ichigo did turn in Grimmjow's embrace then, tucking his head underneath the taller man's chin and wrapping his arms low around Grimmjow's hips. He felt a chuckle rumble though the Espada's chest and blushed slightly, looking down. "Grimm… Stay with me tonight?" Grimmjow raised an eyebrow and smirked and Ichigo flushed in annoyance.

"No sex, Grimm. Please?"

Grimmjow stared into Ichigo's molten brown eyes a moment before nodding. He felt his lover relax against his chest and a strange feeling welled up inside him. Grimmjow was about to push it down, like he usually did, but thought better of it. He knew he was being sappy, which was so not in his nature, but this could be the last time he had the opportunity to be with Ichigo; after what had happened to Ichigo a few months ago, he wasn't ready to take any chances. Grimmjow had been there himself when he had been retained by Aizen after the latter had found out about him fucking around with a Shinigami, so he knew what Ichigo had been through.

"Listen Ichi… I know how you feel about me," Grimmjow muttered, his arms tightening around the teenager, refusing to look at him. "I… If you _ever_ mention this to _anyone_, I will kill you, fucker. I feel the same way about you." Grimmjow felt him sigh against his chest and smirked.

"Grimm, whatever happens tomorrow…"

"I know, Ichi, you don't have to embarrass yourself," Grimmjow said with a teasing smirk. Ichigo blushed harder and smacked him in the side of the head.

"Bastard."

The two stood there for a few minutes more just looking at the sky before deciding to head in to Ichigo's room. Grimmjow smiled as Ichigo peeled off his gi and hakama; he looked absolutely beautiful standing naked in the moonlight. Grimmjow followed suit after a few moments of just _appreciating_ and they lay down together on the cot. Their legs tangled together, Ichigo's back against Grimmjow's chest as Grimmjow's hands settled low on Ichigo's hips, drawing slow circles to lull the boy off to sleep.

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The next morning Ichigo woke up with the sun, feeling warm and happy. He slowly and lazily came to awareness, enjoying the feeling of Grimmjow's hand resting on his lower abdomen and the feel of his body behind him, the tangle of their legs, the breath on the back of his neck. For a moment he thought that he wouldn't mind waking up like this every morning, but that didn't last long; he remembered what today was and sighed, rolling over in Grimmjow's arms to wake up his lover. Ichigo thought about smacking the idiot awake, as usual, but decided to wake him up using a different method.

The teen cupped Grimmjow's cheek, the side without the mask, and kissed him sweetly on the lips, his other hand resting lightly on the man's bare chest. His lips moved from Grimmjow's to flit over his strong jaw and down his neck to suck lightly on his pulse. Blue eyes slide lazily open and he tilted his neck to give Ichigo better access, humming in approval. Ichigo pulled back to look the other man in the eyes, smiling lazily.

"Good morning, Grimm," Ichigo muttered warmly, sending shivers down Grimmjow's spine. The orange-haired boy yawned and stretched much to the amusement of the man below him.

"Rise and shine, retard," Grimmjow replied with a slight affectionate twinge. "We've got enough time to get some breakfast before we have to show up at the gate."

Ichigo frowned and looked away. "I'm not hungry, Grimm."

Grimmjow stared at him for a moment, trying to unlock the puzzle that was the Substitute's mind before realizing the problem; Ichigo was nervous, or maybe even scared. He supposed he couldn't really blame the kid after what had happened to him last time, though he'd just call Ichigo a pussy if the subject ever came up.

Ichigo had been defeated, and Grimmjow thanked his lucky stars that something worse hadn't happened to him. Aizen had the tendency to smash his victim's morale completely, and Ichigo had come back just as determined and stubborn as before; he'd been worried that Ichigo had been raped or something.

"C'mon dipshit, gotta get up," Ichigo said, trying to change the subject as he got off the cot to put on his clothing. He felt Grimmjow's eyes on his ass as he bent over to put on his hakama. "Stop being such a fuckin' pervert!"

Grimmjow just laughed at Ichigo's choice of words and got dressed himself. He was excited at the prospect of a good fight and he couldn't wait to get revenge on Ulquiorra. The shithead beat him up, stabbed him all to hell, and left him to die. He didn't even bother to finish him off! Growling to himself, Grimmjow turned to see Ichigo stretching.

"Let's go." Ichigo said, eyes burning, lips pulled up into a smirk. Grimmjow's blue eyes glittered and they left together toward the gate. Grimmjow glanced down at the shorter man and hooked an arm around his shoulder as they walked.

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Rukia smiled as she watched the two men approach, Grimmjow's arm around Ichigo's shoulders. She poked Renji in the side and he looked up, grinning. "Oi, strawberry! It's about damn time!"

Ichigo frowned at him and punched him in the shoulder. "Shut up, pineapple."

"Ichigo, are you sure-?" Rukia began, but was cut off by Grimmjow's snort.

"Of course he is. Who do you think you're fuckin' talkin' to, midget?"

Rukia opened her mouth to retort but the comment died on her tongue as Yamamoto sou-taichou approached, followed by the Hueco Mundo party: the captain and vice-captain of squads 10 and 11, along with Yumichika and Ikkaku, as well as Rukia and Renji. Byakuya and Ukitake as well as a few of their underlings were already stationed in the material world and the rest were to remain in Soul Society for protection.

"It's time to go, everyone. The ones who are to protect the material world are already in place and those who aren't going to Hueco Mundo will stay back to protect Soul Society. If anyone is to become injured, send them back as soon as you are able and Unohana-taichou and her squad will take care of them. If there aren't any questions, then good luck." Everyone nodded and with one last look at Soul Society and all their friends they were leaving behind, they dove through the gate.

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In Hueco Mundo, in a white-walled chamber in Las Noches, Aizen and 9 Espada were sitting around a long, rectangular table, watching the Shinigami via an invention of Szayel's that was kind of like a flat-screen plasma TV.

Aizen smiled down at his followers; they looked like they were itching for a good battle, to spill blood and gore. He couldn't blame them since he had purposely deprived them of fighting of any kind for the last three weeks to increase their bloodlust. As he watched them lick their teeth and their hands stray toward their zanpakutos, he knew that it had worked. His Espada were excited; his Espada were ready. He would make sure that they would come out victorious and if they didn't… Well, he had no use for incompetent idiots who couldn't complete a simple task.

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Tatsuki sighed in annoyance. She, Mizuiro and Keigo were holed up with Inoue in the Urahara Shoten while everyone else was out patrolling Karakura with nothing to do but wait. The time was going by so slowly and she really had no idea how Inoue was able to handle it so calmly. She was about to go take a bath (to pass the time) when the radio-type-thing that Urahara had invented began to crackle and Rukia's voice floated into her ears.

"We arrived in Hueco Mundo a few hours ago and will be at Las Noches soon enough. I just want you to know before I continue that Urahara assured us that this mode of communication is completely safe, so you can say whatever you want on here. That said, we can inform you a little on what our plans are. Ichigo, Hitsugaya-taichou and I are planning on going after the Hogyouku while the rest try to keep Aizen and his followers busy. Yamamoto sou-taichou was sure that some Espada would be headed your way, so please inform Urahara and Yoruichi once you get the chance. There should be enough help without having to call on Ishida and Chad. That's the plan, anyway… You know how little things actually work out the way they're planned," Rukia said, a smile in her voice. "Also, this is a two-way communicator, however once the battle with Aizen has begun we will be leaving it on so you won't be able to communicate back with us during that time."

"Okay, Kuchiki!" Inoue said lightly. "Tatsuki, Keigo and Mizuiro are here too, they wanted to know what's going on."

"Yes, that's fine. I think Ichigo's worried about them getting tangled up in this mess again, so don't let anything happen to them," Rukia replied in all seriousness. In the background Inoue could hear the orange-haired teen bickering with someone she assumed was Grimmjow and she giggled.

"Is that Kurosaki-kun and Grimmjow-san?"

"…Yes. Well, I'm sorry to cut this conversation short, but Hitsugaya-taichou and Matsumoto fuku-taichou have cleared the area, so we should move on. Try not to contact us unless absolutely necessary," Rukia said and a click flicked on the other end of the radio, signaling the end of the conversation.

The four friends looked at each other, suddenly glad for the radio that Urahara had provided.

"We might as well settle in for a long wait," Mizuiro said fake cheerfully. "Anyone bring popcorn?"

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_Author's Note:_ Before any of you complain about it, yes, I _know_ Grimmjow and Ichigo are OOC. I've already explained the reasoning behind this.

Update on my finals: I've got four papers done, and two more to finish. The ten page paper only needs one more page and three more sources in order to be considered 'finished' and then I can enter the revising mode. The other paper is a life-or-death paper… Basically my 3.5 GPA is resting on this essay. So… This will probably be the last update until later in the week… Perhaps Friday? I want to try to get all this out before I leave for my band trip.

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TG © March 2008


	17. AN

_**Important AN:**_

Lovely readers, please PLEASE check out the poll I have created about Exposed!. It is imperative that you vote because as readers, it is up to you!

_My problem:_ I will be gone on tour and I will have one chance to upload/update before tour. There are only two chapters left for Exposed! and if I update you might be frustrated because it could be considered a 'cliffhanger.' I'm also in the process of writing another GrimmIchi one-shot smutfic.

_Your options:_ I can either update one chapter of Exposed! before I leave, or I can update the new smutfic and leave the last two chapters of Exposed! for after I get back.

It's YOUR choice! Please vote before Saturday night as the poll will be closed. The fic, whichever you choose, will be updated immediately after the closing of the poll.

Also, this chapter will be deleted on Saturday no matter which you choose for me to update in order to make room for the new chapter to be updated.


	18. Chapter 16

**Exposed**

By TG

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_Author's Note:_ WOOO! I am BACK! I will tell you all about my tour if you PM me, but for now I will just say that I have SO MUCH respect for the NYPD and FDNY now that I've been there. Wow.

Which reminds me, I have an IMPORTANT A/N BELOW that I REALLY want you all to read! I said I would come back with a new story idea, and I did! So if you are interested, please read the A/N.

Okay, just a warning to prevent flamers. This chapter is meant to be chaotic and confusing. When you're fighting for your life, I'm sure that not everything is going to instantly make sense to you, as I've _already explained before._

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Exposed

Chapter XVI

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"This was way too easy," Hitsugaya muttered, cautiously looking around as if he could spot a crack in the façade of a farce that was being played on them by Aizen. They had snuck into Las Noches and absolutely nothing had happened to them yet. It was almost like Aizen had known they were coming and had let them get in, but Hitsugaya couldn't think of a reason for Aizen to let them waltz into his quarters. The ice captain didn't really understand it; neither did any of his companions.

"Get a move on, whitey," Ichigo drawled, earning a glare from the short captain and a snicker from everyone else present. "I don't know about you, but we have a job to do."

"Ichigo, he's coming with us to get the Hogyouku. Idiot," Rukia scolded. Ichigo flushed in embarrassment, scowled, and crossed his arms over his chest. They stood in a large chamber-like thing with three hallways stretching away from it, one of which they had just come out of. They were about to split up to perform the tasks they were given and Rukia was giving a few last minute reminders.

"Okay, once we grab the Hogyouku, we'll meet up with you and relieve you from battle. If there are any minor injuries I can heal them and we'll pick someone to take the Hogyouku back to Soul Society. Any questions before we're off? No? Okay, then good luck Zaraki-taichou, Matsumoto fuku-taichou, Renji, Yumichika, and Grimmjow," Rukia said as she turned to run down the nearest corridor with Ichigo and Hitsugaya behind her. The remaining Shinigami (and one blue-haired Espada) stood looking at each other a moment before they too disappeared down the other hallway that hopefully lead to wherever Aizen was.

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As Rukia ran, she made sure to turn on the radio she had been given so Inoue and the others could hear what was going on.

"Inoue, you should be able to hear what's going on but you won't be able to communicate back. We're running down a hallway in search of the Hogyouku."

"Yo, Inoue!" Ichigo said, grinning. "I like this radio thing, it's kind of fun."

Hitsugaya glared up at him and muttered, "Shut up, carrot-top."

Ichigo was about to retort but was hit upside the head by the female of their group. He groaned slightly and held his head as he ran, glaring at her. Ikkaku just laughed gleefully at seeing Ichigo in pain.

"The fuck was that for, bitch?"

Rukia just laughed at him and said something about Grimmjow rubbing off on him. Ichigo settled for a scowl and ignored Hitsugaya's laughter. He decided that now was the time to get serious about finding this thing because it was very dangerous in Aizen's hands; the man had already demonstrated this when he had kidnapped Inoue two years ago. The carrot-top grunted and ran faster, determined to find this thing so they could finish the battle and go home.

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Zaraki's wild laughter filled the large domed chamber as his sword clashed with Tousen's. Grimmjow rolled his eyes, having no time for such distractions as Aizen stared him down. Grimmjow just stared back, impermeable to his towering form and unfazed by his piercing, cold brown eyes so unlike Ichigo's warm ones. He didn't even spare a glance as he heard Wondewice, his replacement, attack Renji or when Yumichika jumped at Yammy, muttering about how un-beautiful he was, or even when Ichimaru appeared out of nowhere and surprised Matsumoto. He knew that it was imperative that Aizen be defeated; the rest would collapse itself; take out the brain, the rest goes with it. He had the experience of having once followed Aizen and knew that the Espada, though they lusted after blood and instinctively knew that Shinigami were bad, were pretty much just a group of extremely powerful, brainless idiots. He had had his doubts about Ichimaru actually being loyal to Aizen and he really didn't know what to think about the blind man other than he loathed him with every fiber of his being. Aizen was the more dangerous one to contend with, anyway.

Suddenly the brown-haired man attacked. Grimmjow was barely able to block, his eyes wide with surprise at the face grinning effortlessly in front of him.

"You think you stand a chance, Sexta?" A slow smirk appeared on Grimmjow's face and he pushed back with his sword to try and equalize his footing.

"It doesn't matter, does it?" He answered, jumping away as Aizen slashed at him. The other man laughed openly at him and crushed his forming Bala blast between his finger and thumb. Grimmjow simply grinned and tried again. He wasn't going to give up; he would be the best distraction for Ichigo he could be. He just hoped that the others would be able to hold up as well.

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Ichigo rammed his shoulder into the door once more, grunting as he made contact and the door broke open. "Damn, that's gonna leave a fuckin' bruise."

"Bitch and moan, strawberry," Ikkaku said, grinning. "C'mon, we got a little magical ball to steal."

Ichigo smirked and followed Ikkaku inside, ignoring Hitsugaya and Rukia sharing a look saying 'boys will be boys.' The two short ones followed the other two in and stopped short at what was in Ichigo's hand. It was the Hogyouku! They all stood and stared for a moment, wondering why it was so easy to steal when an alarm suddenly pealed from deep within Las Noches. They looked at each other and bolted back down the hallway in the direction they came, hoping that they wouldn't encounter anyone they would have to fight with. From their information, most of the Espada were in the real world fighting, but Rukia knew Aizen wasn't stupid enough to leave himself defenseless.

Out of nowhere Ulquiorra was next to them, using his sonido to stay beside them. He struck out and caught Ichigo around the middle, flinging him up toward the ceiling. Ichigo just flipped around and caught the wall with his feet to push off back toward Ulquiorra, drawing his sword and going bankai after making sure the Hogyouku was still safe inside his gi. He used Getsuga Tenshou to create space between his friends and the Espada and used the debris it blew up to escape. Now was not the time to be fighting; even though his instincts were screaming at him not to run away, his first priority was to get the Hogyouku back to the others so someone could take it back.

He could hear Rukia panting next to him as they ran and knew that Inoue and the others were probably worried. He ran faster and they found themselves back in the chamber they had begun at and they made a sharp left to go into the corridor they needed to take them to where the battles were.

"Don't worry, it's okay. Ichigo was just attacked by Ulquiorra but we escaped and are about to bring the Hogyouku to Matsumoto fuku-taichou to take back to Soul Society," Rukia muttered into the radio as they ran. Ichigo grabbed it from her.

"No worries! Rukia is going to stay out of the battle so she can heal, so she'll give you blow-by-blows then! Like a sports announcer," Ichigo said in fake cheer. He gave the radio back to a glaring Rukia and all of a sudden they were in a brightly-lit, large, domed room and the sounds of fighting instantly hit their ears.

Ichigo took a few seconds to observe what was going on; Grimmjow was fighting Aizen, Zaraki was clashing with Tousen, Matsumoto was trying to hold her own against Ichimaru, who seemed to be going easy on her, Renji was bleeding and attacking Wonderwice, and Yumichika, it seemed, had already killed Yammy. A tap on his shoulder and he turned to a questioning Rukia.

"Let's send Matsumoto back with the Hogyouku. Zaraki and Grimm seem to be doing fine. We'll have to relieve Renji and Yumichika –" Ichigo was about to continue when a howl split the air. They whirled around to see Renji, chest heaving and standing over Wonderwice who had Zabimaru embedded through his chest, his eyes glazed, torso leaking blood.

"Matsumoto!" Ichigo yelled, stealing the vice-captain's attention. "I've got a present for old man Yamamoto that you're supposed to deliver!"

Matsumoto grinned and jumped gracefully back from her fight with Ichimaru. Ichigo handed her the wrapped up Hogyouku in mid-shunpo and like that she was gone, having jumped through the gate that Rukia had prepared. Rukia smiled and sat down in the corner, preparing to heal their injured comrades. She set up the radio next to her as well so the kids in the material world could clearly hear.

Ichigo smiled back at Rukia, excited for a good fight and let his voice drift over the battle sounds. "Renji, Yumichika, go get yourselves healed! Grimm –" Before Ichigo could continue, a loud ripping noise interrupted him and Ulquiorra and Stark stepped out gracefully. Grimmjow let out a laugh and in an instant he was attacking Ulquiorra, leaving Aizen standing at the other side of the chambers looking slightly pissed. Ichigo growled in appreciation; now he could fight Aizen one-on-one, like he'd hoped. Ikkaku took Grimmjow's lead and danced off to attack Stark, an almost rabid grin spread across his face. Hitsugaya replaced his vice-captain and the fight resumed again, with more ardor.

Rukia blocked out the sounds of battle and focused on healing first Renji, then Yumichika. The two hadn't been too bloodied up in their fights, so their healing was quick work. The radio crackled beside then and Rukia pressed a button to accept the conversation. Soi Fong's voice, sharp and purposeful, rasped over the airwaves: "Soi Fong, reporting from Soul Society. All Espada who have appeared here have been defeated and killed. We took no prisoners."

Ichigo smirked as he parried a heavy thrust from Aizen, watching the man's expression as it fought to remain unchanged. His brown eyes glittered dangerously and cold steel bit into Ichigo's shoulder. The teenager gritted his teeth to stop himself from crying out, not wanting to give the ex-Shinigami the satisfaction of hearing the pain in his voice. The sword pulled out slowly, making the carrot-top moan quietly. Aizen pleasured in every wince, flinch and gasp of pain that came from the teenager as he slashed at him again, breaking skin and drawing lifeblood. Ichigo roared in anger and slashed back.

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Ukitake panted in Inoue's living room as Byakuya took Inoue's radio to report the goings-on in the material world to the group in Hueco Mundo. He began to speak, ignoring the curious and fascinated looks he was receiving from the teenagers; of course they would be interested, their friend was putting his life on the line at this very moment.

"Kuchiki Byakuya, reporting from the material world. All but two Espada have been destroyed. The two who weren't are now back in Hueco Mundo as you probably already know. Ukitake and I are with Inoue Orihime and her friends right now. We will await your report."

"What now?" Keigo asked quietly. He was glad that so far everything seemed to be going as Rukia had said, but he had the feeling that something might go wrong.

"We wait," Ukitake said gently. He took pity on the humans who were confused and worried and probably a little scared of Byakuya. The teens sitting on the floor nodded and replaced their focus on the radio that was filled with sounds of continuous battle.

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Aizen heard the radio report and fought the urge to recoil. All his Espada but the two in front of him were _destroyed_? He couldn't afford to be cautious then, if that was the truth. Abandoning his calm façade he thrust his sword into Ichigo's calf and twisted as hard as he could, going half-mad as he drowned in the teenager's cries of pain.

'What the fuck is he doing!? He's abandoned all carefulness,' Ichigo thought as he avoided yet another slash that could've killed him. Aizen had stopped playing around and decided to get serious, evidently.

'Well,' Ichigo thought, 'I'll do the same then.'

Ichigo hooked his fingers around the air above his face and pulled out a white Hollow's mask, his sword already in bankai mode. He laughed at Aizen's practically foaming mouth –or was that his Hollow's laugh? –and began attacking relentlessly, using his Hollow's high pain threshold to ignore any injuries Aizen gave him. He wanted to look over at how Grimmjow was doing but his Hollow wouldn't allow for such weakness. Instead he steeled his eyes with determination.

Sounds of swords clashing, grunts, cries of pain mixed together with blurred images of crimson, cold steel, black and white fabric until everything was in complete confusion. The Shinigami battling couldn't waste a moment without focus, so they had no idea what was going on outside their own five foot bubble. The Shinigami sitting in the corner with Rukia couldn't make out anything other than the blur of movement and the humans and Shinigami in Soul Society and the material world listening to the raging fight via Urahara's radio could only hear the sounds of conflict. Everything was confused, but all that mattered was that the fighters knew what they were doing.

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The teenagers sat on the floor gathered around the radio as Byakuya, Ukitake, and now Urahara and Yoruichi joined them, sitting at Inoue's kitchen table. Everything had gotten much quieter on the other side of the radio and suddenly Ichigo's voice, hard and determined, drifted from the radio's speakers.

"Getsuga Tenshou!"

Then there was a big crash and a cry of pain, and then absolute silence.

Tatsuki wrung her hands together, waiting for the heavy silence to be lifted; the crackling the radio speakers were emitting was almost as scary as complete silence. She shared a look with her classmates; Ishida, Chad, Keigo, Mizuiro, Inoue… All of them were waiting in anxious silence for something, anything, a sign of life from the other side of the radio and she could imagine the Shinigami in Soul Society doing the same thing.

Then the silence was broken by Rukia's shaking voice and a rustling of cloth.

"R-Reporting from Hueco Mundo, this is Kuchiki Rukia. The Espada Stark and Ulquiorra, dead. Tousen appears to be dead as well. Ichimaru and Hitsugaya-taichou have been injured severely. Zaraki-taichou and Ikkaku are relatively uninjured. Renji and Yumichika have already been healed, they're fine, and Matsumoto fuku-taichou has gone back to Soul Society with the Hogyouku. Ichigo and Aizen…"

Crackle.

"Ichigo and Aizen are both down. I can't tell if they're okay or not. Grimmjow is checking them now, and don't worry, he's fine too."

In the background they could hear the sickening sound of steel sliding effortlessly through flesh and Grimmjow's voice saying that if Ichigo hadn't killed Aizen already, he had just done it. They could hear a muffled thud, probably Grimmjow dropping to the ground to check on Ichigo, and a few minutes later they could hear his cries of 'wake up, wake up Ichi!'

Another short moment of silence and a groan.

A soft sigh from Rukia and she said, "Ichigo's alive. We're going to transport the wounded to Soul Society so Unohana-taichou and her squad can help them. Mission complete."

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Ikkaku grunted as he picked up an annoyed and bleeding Hitsugaya and carried him bridal style through the gate that Rukia had prepared. He, Grimmjow and Zaraki were helping the injured back to Soul Society and the last one left was Ichigo, who was nestled carefully in Grimmjow's arms. Grimmjow allowed Rukia to leave before him and jumped in after her, unbelieving that he had just fought and killed his long-time rival Ulquiorra… In fact, he was in shock that the whole war was suddenly over. He wasn't really sure how he felt about it, but he didn't have time to ponder as he deposited his lover into the arms of the healer woman who would now be responsible for his life.

Grimmjow shuddered at the thought of not having Ichigo in his life anymore and made a vow to see him every day until he was better. He knew he had been taking Ichigo's presence for granted for the last two years; the teenager had always dropped everything for Grimmjow when he came to visit and he actually listened to what the Espada had to say. Well, maybe not in the beginning. Grimmjow chuckled at how they used to fight and then the fighting would somehow turn into fucking. Ichigo had hated him back then; oh yes, hated him, but loved getting fucked by him.

Grimmjow sighed and ran a hand through his hair as he allowed a small, kind girl with silver hair named Isane to heal his injuries. He would have to make it up to his lover, starting as soon as Ichigo woke up.

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_Author's Note:_ Sorry for the cheesiness of the last bit… I know it's OOC, so you all don't need to tell me it is :) My mom's cousin had just died when I wrote this and I was going through a fit of 'I should have spent more time with him' and 'I shouldn't have taken him for granted' and such, so that's why it was all cheesy and shit.

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TG © March 2008


	19. Chapter 17

**Exposed**

By TG

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Author's Note: I apologize in advance for the long a/n. There's just so much I want to say!

First of all, thanks SO MUCH for the nice reviews and all the favorites and alerts and such. Having people actually like my writing really helped me get more into it as I went on.

**The explicit scene has been cut down in this chapter. If you want to read the original (explicit) version, please go to my profile and click the link to my LJ.**

Thanks again for all your awesome support! It was fun while it lasted… /is sad that it's ending/

Mmmmm. I like cheese.

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Exposed

Chapter XVII

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Grimmjow sighed. His blue eye twitched with boredom as he watched the stupid Shinigami pair up and dance a traditional two-step. Ichigo hadn't woken up yet after the fight with Aizen, but Rukia and Renji had dragged him away from the hospital and his lover's side despite his protests. He had wanted to be there when Ichigo woke up, but Grimmjow couldn't blame them; after all, it had only been a few hours since they had returned to Soul Society, so it wasn't likely that Ichigo was going to wake up already. Plus they had just fuckin' destroyed Aizen. Of course they would want to celebrate! Ichigo was in good hands and the celebration that was going on was _huge_, so why not enjoy it? He ran a hand through his blue hair.

'Because Ichi isn't here,' Grimmjow thought with a snort. He shook his head, blue hair falling into his eyes, and headed over to the table with food and sake. He picked up a sake bottle and walked off with it, much to the amusement of Zaraki, who was watching from a corner babysitting Yachiru (making sure she didn't touch an ounce of sake, more like).

The former Espada grinned and threw the sake back like an expert, but was interrupted as a pair of warm, bandaged arms wrapped around his waist, dangerously low on his hips. Grimmjow spit out the sake he had been in the process of swallowing and was about the elbow the fucker in the face when he felt a head resting on his shoulder blade and a soft voice whisper "Grimm."

He knew that voice. But the question was…

"I-Ichigo! The fuck are you doing here?" Was what came out of his mouth once he managed to get his jaw and tongue working again. "Damnit, I fuckin' hate surprises you little shit!"

He felt Ichigo smile through the fabric of his Arrancar jacket; a real, beaming, happy smile. Grimmjow sucked in a breath, whirled around, and in an instant he was holding Ichigo like his life depended on it. Grimmjow sighed and lightly nuzzled the top of Ichigo's head, trying to ignore the stares he was sure they were receiving.

"Ichi, I'm fuckin' glad you're okay," he muttered. The ex-Espada felt Ichigo shudder and bury his face in the crook of Grimmjow's neck. "Sorry I wasn't there when you woke up but -"

"S'okay Grimm," Ichigo mumbled, holding him tighter. Grimmjow let him for a moment before stepping back; he was new to showing his feelings and wasn't comfortable yet with public displays; his mind was still screaming that feelings were weaknesses. Ichigo just smiled at him, like the dumbshit understood.

'Which he probably did,' Grimmjow thought.

Ichigo took his hand and led him toward the door, saying, "C'mon, retard. It's a full moon outside."

Grimmjow just smirked and followed. The smirk disappeared, however, as Ichigo was bathed in moonlight. Grimmjow was able to see his bandaged arms, head, and cheek better than in the dimly lit training gym-turned-dance floor. The blue-haired man brought a hand up to Ichigo's injured cheek, ignoring his wince, and whispered, "Goddamn, Ichi…"

Ichigo smiled and leaned in for a soft, gentle kiss, which Grimmjow predictably turned into a fiery, passionate tangle of tongues. Ichigo moaned and fell back against the wall of the building they had just exited, the feeling of Grimmjow's velvety slick tongue against his stoking the fire low in his abdomen. His hands gripped the Espada's shoulders to help him remain standing as Grimmjow ravished him. It took everything Ichigo had to tear his mouth away for air, panting as Grimmjow slowly licked his neck from the shoulder to the spot under his ear that drove him absolutely crazy.

Ichigo sucked in a harsh breath and arched his back slightly off the wall, trying to ignore the hands that were under his shirt running over his stomach and chest, tweaking his nipples and lightly trailing down his sides to smooth over the etched V of his hips.

'God, he's so fuckin' sexy when he's all vulnerable and shit,' Grimmjow thought, licking his lips.

"G-Grimm! Here is definitely _not_ a good place to have sex!" His orange-haired lover said, desperately trying to get the horny Espada to stop his ministrations. Grimmjow only smirked at him and palmed him through his hakama. Ichigo groaned and bucked his hips involuntarily. He tore Ichigo's sash off and ripped his hakama down, freeing Ichigo's hardening erection.

"Who said anything about sex, retard?" Grimmjow replied as he dropped to his knees in front of Ichigo. The boy just stared at him incredulously and choked back a cry as his lover licked him. Grimmjow smirked at Ichigo's reaction and licked him again before taking him all the way in.

"Grimm, please!" Ichigo cried, his hands fisting in blue hair. Grimmjow smirked; that was what he had been waiting for. He ravished the younger man, driving him wild until he couldn't stand it anymore.

Grimmjow licked up the mess and stood up, stealing a quick, passionate kiss. Ichigo grimaced at tasting himself and his lover laughed at him.

"Here, get your pants on, you freak," Grimmjow said, holding up Ichigo's hakama. The latter snatched them out of his hands, scowling and blushing, and dressed. Not a moment later two Shinigami, obviously drunk out of their minds, came around the corner. They stared at Ichigo and Grimmjow before continuing on their merry (drunken) way.

Ichigo laughed at having almost been caught receiving head from a former Espada by two drunk guys. Grimmjow leaned against the wall next to his lover and grinned.

"Guess I'll have to wait 'til later to get my payment, hm?" Ichigo blushed and smacked him upside the head. Rukia and Renji chose that moment to appear from around the corner with several others with them.

"Ichigo! Look, we brought your human friends!" Renji shouted. Ichigo cringed at the volume of Renji's voice; the man was obviously a little buzzed. He couldn't help but smile though as he saw Tatsuki, Keigo and Mizuiro running toward him.

Grimmjow watched as more light entered Ichigo's eyes and thought that having the kid's friends brought here to surprise him was worth the interruption. He caught Ichigo's eye then and smiled his gentlest smile at his lover. Ichigo couldn't help but smile warmly back.

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"Ichigo, when are you coming home?" Tatsuki asked, yawning. They had been there for hours and she was tired, having waited up for news about Ichigo's health.

"When the celebration's over with. Understand that now that Aizen is dead and the war is over, I probably won't see these guys much anymore. They might even revoke my Substitute liscence, although I doubt that," Ichigo replied softly, yawning himself and elbowing Tatsuki like it was her fault he had yawned. Tatsuki smiled and nodded, leaning back against the roof they were sitting on. Mizuiro and Keigo had gone off in search of Matsumoto a while ago, leaving him and Tatsuki alone to catch up.

"I don't mean to interrupt, but Ichi, you look real tired. Maybe it's time for you to go for now," a voice said softly. Ichigo peered down over the roof and grinned when he saw Grimmjow. He didn't really want to kick Tatsuki out, but he _was_ starting to get tired, so he looked at her and smiled in apology.

"No, I understand Ichigo. You need your rest, you've had a long day," she said softly, squeezing his shoulder for a moment and then allowing him to jump her off the roof. "I guess I'll see you at home then. And don't worry, we haven't told anyone about your secret so far, and we won't ever."

Ichigo just smirked and leaned against Grimmjow for support as he watched her go. Grimmjow wrapped his arms around Ichigo's hips, caressing small circles into his skin to relax his lover further.

"Are you glad things turned out this way?" He asked softly, gently nipping Ichigo's sensitive earlobe.

A soft gasp and an even softer "Yes, Grimm" reached his ears.

Grimmjow just smirked and licked the shell of the orange-haired teen's ear and bit down hard, causing Ichigo to arch back into him pressing his hips backward into Grimmjow's. He felt the former Espada's erection grinding into his ass and his mouth opened to release a silent cry of pleasure.

"You're a fuckin' idiot," Grimmjow whispered, turning Ichigo's head to steal a kiss. "You're a fuckin' idiot, but I love ya."

Ichigo just leaned against the older man, panting slightly, knowing he didn't have to say anything back. He thought about how his friends would leave for home that night, how the celebration would continue for a few more days, how he too would leave for home again soon. How he would ask Urahara to make Grimmjow a gigai so he could become a more permanent fixture in Ichigo's life. How he was so sure that he would be allowed to keep his Substitute abilities because evil was never truly defeated.

It didn't matter, because at the moment, he was satisfied with his life. He made a mental reminder to thank Rukia for accidentally giving him all her powers and starting this new chapter in his life.

He turned in Grimmjow's arms to return the hug, burying his head in his lover's neck.

Yes, for now he was content.

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_Author's Note:_ Well, it's really fuckin' cheesy, but oh well. I like me some fluff.

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TG © March 2008

Anyway, I truly hope you liked it at least a little and I want to remind you (so that I don't get annoying reviews) that YES this is OOC and that is because, as I've mentioned before, it is slightly AU and set 2 years ahead. No offense meant to those of you who mentioned that already I love all of you!


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